Hungary PM Orbán's advisor in hot water for saying resisting Russia is irresponsible

If Russia rolled its tanks into Hungary as it did in 1956, Budapest would have thought twice about defending itself from the invasion, unlike Kyiv, according to the Hungarian premier's political advisor, Balázs Orbán.

Orbán — who is not related to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — explained on a podcast on Wednesday that Hungary had learned its lesson and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to stand up to Moscow in early 2022 was "irresponsible".

"He put his country on the defensive in a war, so many people died, so much territory was lost," Orbán explained to the conservative outlet Mardiner.

"I repeat, it's their right, it's their sovereign decision, they could have done it, but if we had been asked, we would not have advised it because in '56 what happened happened."

"Because we have learned that we must be careful here, and we must be careful with very precious Hungarian lives. You cannot just throw them away in front of others."

Viktor Orbán's political director also said that he believed any provocation was counterproductive, adding that 80-90% of the Hungarian people agree with the Hungarian government's policy on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Orbán's words sparked a series of reactions at home, leading opposition politicians to slam him over his reading of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, meant to liberate the country from the Soviet Union, which in turn crushed the resistance with tanks and rifles.

Péter Magyar, chairman of the opposition Tisza party, said that such a person should not hold public office alongside the Hungarian prime minister and should resign before 23 October, the national day commemorating the uprising,

"Quite outrageous sentences, with which the brightest 13 days of the 20th-century