Normally, no sheet of paper fits between Viktor Orbán and Janez Janša, the Hungarian and Slovenian prime ministers are so close politically.

It is similar with Orbán and his counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki from Poland.

But things are different when it comes to one topic: Russia and Ukraine.

Stephen Lowenstein

Political correspondent based in Vienna.

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And so it happened that on Wednesday evening a joint statement by Morawiecki and Janša was sent out for the EU special summit – without Orbán.

It proposes a concrete and, if the criteria are met, guaranteed admission perspective for Ukraine until 2030.

Corresponding offers should also be worked out for Georgia, Moldova and the states of the Western Balkans.

"If the EU doesn't expand, someone else will."

Orbán's closeness to Vladimir Putin is notorious; he visited him again just three weeks ago.

Conversely, the Hungarian government has been at odds with the Ukrainian government for years, the main issue being the treatment of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia in the far west of Ukraine.

A question in Budapest as to whether Orbán had refused to sign the membership proposal of his two political friends, or whether he had not been asked at all, received no concrete answer.

Government communicator Zoltán Kovács only referred to the statements made on social media.

"Stay out of this conflict"

On the one hand, Orbán himself can be seen taking briefings from his military leaders and declaring that everything must be done to prevent war.

That was on Wednesday evening.

Hungary must "stay out of this conflict, out of this military conflict".

Because the most important interest is Hungarian security.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said: We stand by Ukraine and its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Hungary is and will remain part of NATO's decisions and their joint response.

Criticism of Russia was not included in this statement either.

However, the minister summoned the Russian ambassador and also explained to him the position of Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity.

You have to know that Hungary is in the hot phase of the election campaign for the parliamentary elections on April 3rd.

Orbán has been harshly attacked by the opposition for his stance on Russia, whose top candidate Péter Márki-Zay called the head of government a "traitor" to Hungary and the EU at an event in Berlin.

Conversely, the government criticized demands from the opposition for military support for neighboring Ukraine: "We must not allow the left to drag us into this war," said Szijjártó.

Of course, Janša in Slovenia is also facing elections.

He obviously has different assumptions about the perception of the issue in his country.

When it comes to EU resolutions on sanctions, Hungary has always voted – a no from Budapest would be tantamount to a veto.

That's what the government wants to do now, the government assured last week, even if sanctions are considered wrong: One is committed to the common policy.