Máté Kocsis is a Hungarian politician, who acted as Mayor of Józsefváros from 2009 to 2018. He also represents Józsefváros in the National Assembly of Hungary from 2010 to 2014 and since 2018. He is the present leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group. The group is to believed be pro-Russian and functions for Putin-centric policies.
Fidesz ruling Hungary was the only EU member state to vote against economic aid for Ukraine during its conflict with Russia-sponsored separatists, and has been a verbal critic of EU sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
In 2019 Russia and Hungary initiated Inter-Parliamentary Commission. Such proposal was announced by the Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin at the intersection with the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary László Kövér. László Kövér reinforced this idea and also accepted the invitation to visit Russia and to sign the understanding on the creation of the Commission during the visit.
Máté Kocsis, the current leader of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party parliamentary group, repeated Budapest’s claim that many Western nations are being dragged into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. “The more countries get dragged into the war in Ukraine, the faster we approach a world war. And if there is a world war, it will be a nuclear war.”
The leader of the Fidesz party parliamentary group also condemned the “Hungarian leftists” for “serving the interests of the US” and promoting the war; he also criticised Western governments for supplying increasingly more effective weapons to Ukraine, a country fighting for its independence.
“We are a step away from Western European countries or countries to the west of the site of the conflict sending troops to Ukraine, and that is what we think should be avoided,” Kocsis said.
He endorsed the resolution which criticised the EU’s sanctions against Russia, which the Hungarian opposition supported. Hungary is claiming that supplying arms to Ukraine and introducing sanctions against Russia has failed to achieve peace in Ukraine.
Hungarian officials have also said on numerous occasions that US President Joe Biden has to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has recently said that EU leaders are close to discussing sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.
