‘Barbaric act’: NATO’s central European members condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin on Jan. 27, 2019, marking the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege. (Kremlin/Released)
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
NATO nations on the alliance’s so-called “eastern flank” condemned Russia’s early morning attack on Ukraine, with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis labeling it a “very grave breach of international law.”
In a Twitter statement on February 24, Iohannis wrote that Russia’s attack on Ukraine “will be met with the strongest reaction by the international community inflicting massive consequences [and the] most severe cost.”
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, meanwhile, called for the activation of NATO’s Article 4, which sets forth a mechanism of consultation among allies.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Twitter that Moscow’s military action was a “barbaric act of aggression” and an “absolutely unjustifiable act of aggression toward an independent country, which cannot remain without reaction from EU and NATO.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that “we must immediately respond to Russia’s criminal aggression on Ukraine. Europe and the free world has to stop Putin. Today’s European Council should approve fiercest possible sanctions.”
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska said on Twitter: “I strongly condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. This act undermines the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and constitutes a grave breach of international law.”
At the United Nations, Bulgarian Ambassador Lachezara Stoeva said, “Ukraine, you’re not alone.”
However, the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who maintains friendly ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, had not yet explicitly condemned the attack.
But Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said war was “the worst-case scenario,” and he reiterated that Hungary fully supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“The task now…is to guarantee the security of Hungarian people,” Szijjarto said.
“Our embassy in Kyiv is operating, and ready to help Hungarians who are in the Ukraine right now,” he said.
