Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Saka. My guest today is the chief

international spokesperson for a Hungarian government that constantly complains of being misunderstood

and misrepresented in the West, which is somewhat odd, given that Hungary is itself a member

of the West's two biggest clubs,

the EU and NATO. For years, Zoltan Kovach has faithfully rehashed the nationalist populist

worldview of his boss, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which depicts Brussels as the hub of a

liberal globalist network intent on undermining Hungary's

proudly illiberal Christian democracy. Now, this longstanding tension between Hungary and many

of its supposed Western allies has been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Viktor Orban has refused to join other Europeans

sending arms to Kiev. He so far rejected calls to impose an embargo on Russian energy supplies.

And while he has condemned Russia's aggression and called for peace, he's reserved his

personal attacks for Ukraine's President Zelensky, rather than Vladimir Putin.

In the past, Hungary has forged strong bonds with other nationalist-led governments in Eastern Europe,

notably Poland. But now Russia's war in Ukraine has left Hungary looking increasingly isolated

in Europe. Whose side is Hungary really on? Well,

Sultan Kovach joins me now on the line from Budapest. Welcome to Hard Talk. Thank you for being

with you. Well, thank you for joining us. We have to start, I think, with the pressing matter of

the EU and its latest round of sanctions that it intends to impose on Russia.

Central to this is an oil embargo which will be phased in over time for all member states.

Hungary, it seems, would be given a little more time to stop using Russian oil by the end of

2023. Is that acceptable to your government?

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