Sybiha Jokes Ukraine Knows How to Handle Orbán as Reports Link Him to UN Top Job

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has reacted with biting humor to reports that the US administration is backing former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán as a candidate for UN secretary-general. He made his comments on X, as reported by European Pravda.

Sybiha wrote that he was confident Orbán would put to good use the "masterful veto and blackmail skills he has developed over years of derailing major EU decisions" if he were appointed to lead the United Nations.

The minister then turned to a well-known episode from an EU summit in late 2023. On that occasion Orbán left the meeting room, which allowed EU leaders to approve the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine without a veto from Budapest. Sybiha joked about inviting the former Hungarian leader "for coffee", a reference to that moment.

"We can share with the rest of the world our great experience of taking him out for coffee at the right moment," Sybiha wrote.

The remarks follow a report by The Wall Street Journal, which said the US administration is promoting Orbán for the UN post and is counting on support from China and Russia.

The idea has surfaced before. In May, investigative journalists reported that figures in the MAGA wing of the US Republican Party were considering a scenario in which Orbán would be given a UN position. According to that reporting, such an appointment would shield him from prosecution in Hungary.

Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi has also said that Orbán is preparing to flee to the United States should he face legal action in Hungary.

The reports have not been accompanied by any formal nomination in the material available, and Sybiha's comments were a pointed political jab rather than an official diplomatic statement. They do, however, underline how closely Kyiv follows any move that could elevate a politician who repeatedly clashed with Ukraine's European partners over support and EU accession.