Orban says Ukraine shouldn't worry about Hungary's drones

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday downplayed his country's alleged violation of Ukrainian airspace with drones, saying "no-one" would attack the war-torn nation from Hungary's direction.

Orban is Ukraine's fiercest critic in the European Union, refusing to send military aid to the country to fight off Russia's invasion.

Hungary has also stymied tougher sanctions on Moscow and frustrated Kyiv's bid for EU membership.

The nationalist leader's remarks came after Ukraine accused Hungary of violating its airspace with several unmanned aircraft that were allegedly trying to spy on its border areas, further straining ties between the two neighbors.

Kyiv alleged the reconnaissance drones had been spotted on Friday morning, crossing the Ukrainian border twice from Hungary into the western Transcarpathia region.

"Ukraine is not at war with Hungary but with Russia.

"So it should be concerned with the drones on its eastern border because there are NATO member states here," the Hungarian premier said in a social media podcast hosted by his party spokesperson.

"Ukraine's hinterland is secure. No-one is going to attack it from there."

Orban said the issue was a "sham" which had "no significance", pointing out that the Hungarian defense minister denied that Hungarian drones entered Ukrainian airspace.

"But let's say it had flown in a few meters. So what? Ukraine is not an independent country. Ukraine is not a sovereign country," he said.

"We are keeping Ukraine afloat. The West keeps it afloat. We are giving them their weapons.

"Ukraine should not behave as if it were a sovereign state."

Hungary also announced on Monday that it would block 12 Ukrainian news sites.

It said the move was in response to Kyiv's decision earlier this month to ban access to eight Hungarian-language websites -- including popular pro-government portal Origo.

Ukraine applied to join the 27-nation EU days after the war began in 2022 but has been unable to advance membership talks due to Orban's vetoes.

Hungary says that Ukraine joining the bloc would pose security risks and that doing so while it is at war risks dragging the EU into conflict with Russia.

Ukraine says those concerns are groundless.