“Your freedom is our freedom,” writes the European Commission as we commemorate the fourth year of the Ukraine-Russia war. Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas misses no opportunity to play an overarching pseudo-God persona, with her main mantra being that Viktor Orbán is evil and that we, Europeans, must stand with Ukraine. 

It’s hard not to see the similarities with what happened after October 7th in the Israeli-Gaza war. People were chanting, “We are not free until Palestine is free,” often without grasping what their chant actually means in practice. During the Israel-Gaza war, celebrities were sticking watermelon stickers everywhere; now, the EU’s elite is sticking the symbol of the sunflower (Ukraine’s flower) everywhere. The only real difference in the PR is that while the general population was quick to justify terrorist attacks against the Jewish state, when it comes to Ukraine, things just happen in a vacuum. Ukraine is ultimately innocent, and everyone in Europe must sacrifice their money, lives, and, at this point, their sanity to save Ukraine. This does not mean that the war is justified, but it does mean that, like all wars, this conflict must be viewed with nuance.

The conflict did not start in 2022. It began in 2014 with the Maidan Square coup. This was followed by eight years of massacre in Donetsk, a topic we comfortably try to numb because it does not fit into our ‘We are all Ukraine’ narrative. Then came Ukraine’s possible NATO accession, which pushed the final button for Russia, a move it considered, and still considers, an existential threat. Add to this the treatment of minorities in Ukraine, including the Romas, Hungarians, and LGBT members, and perhaps the black-and-white narrative gains a few more shades of gray. That said, Russia’s decision in February 2022 to launch a full-scale invasion was an act of aggression that violated international law and dramatically escalated the conflict, causing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, and millions displaced.

Once again, none of this justifies a war in which innocent people die because of politics. And no, openly stating these facts does not make one a Putin puppet or a Russian propagandist. But let’s be frank: without delving deeper into how this war began, we must acknowledge Ukraine’s troubled history.

And yet, here we are, four years later, and the European Union, whose mission is cooperation to avoid another world war, is playing with fire. One has to question their motives at this point. How is it legally or morally acceptable that a non-EU country has received over €193.3 billion in funding from the EU, yet no one is calling for accountability? I am not an expert on war economics, nor is it my intention to analyze how many weapons and military appliances were sent to Ukraine and from whom. But I know enough about geopolitics, the EU’s legal system, and public relations to see how shady it all gets.

The EU is not a charity organization, nor is it supposed to be a ‘Europe for Ukraine.’ Foreign policy should not be dictated by feelings but guided by caution, strategy, and pragmatism. Yes, we are human, and so we must be compassionate and help those caught up in mindless conflicts. But what should I, a Hungarian and a member of the European Union, feel and do when Ukraine’s suffering is used to blackmail my people, my country, my future?

Kaja Kallas, Ursula von der Leyen, or Manfred Weber all seem ready to sacrifice everything for Ukraine. The geopolitical power game is unquestionably shifting: Trump is taking ‘America First’ seriously, and as Marco Rubio has said multiple times, this war is not America’s war, so they are reluctant to send in troops, should the demand arise. (Without a U.S. army, there are not enough NATO troops to win in a possible escalation of this conflict). Meanwhile, the EU is economically weaker than ever, which has naturally diminished its negotiating power. The ego of the EU has been burst—and that is painful; nobody likes it. More importantly, it seems that the EU’s liberal establishment was willing to risk everything on Ukraine, even at the expense of losing on all other fronts in world politics.

Right now, four years into the war and after several unsuccessful peace negotiation rounds (none of which were supported or initiated by the EU itself), we are facing a reality where the EU is attacking its own members, Slovakia and Hungary, while still caressing a non-EU member, Ukraine. The double standards, purposeful misinformation by the EU’s poster children, and the demonization of Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico should be unacceptable to anyone who wants the European Union to continue to exist. While Kallas calls out Orbán for blocking the next €90 billion loan to Ukraine, she forgets to mention why Hungary was forced to do so. Instead, the EU elite is, at this point, directly interfering in the upcoming Hungarian national election. When you call out an EU member state’s veto power, you are questioning the essence of the European Union. Viktor Orbán did not go against the acquis; Viktor Orbán applies the acquis. That is called democracy. Blackmailing a country for using its legal power is called communism.

Hungary blocked the loan because Ukraine shut down oil pipelines to Hungary and Slovakia. Both countries responded by restricting energy supplies to Ukraine. In fact, Slovakia turned it off entirely, and they suspended diesel exports to Ukraine. Slovakia also halted emergency electricity supplies that it had been providing to Ukraine. As a result, Hungary explicitly linked the oil issue to future Ukrainian support inside the EU.

And instead of questioning Ukraine’s actions, which clearly go against the EU-Ukraine transit agreements and harm EU member states, the EU elite looks the other way and pins a sunflower to shoot some selfies for Ukraine.

We are four years into this deadly war, where Ukrainian and Russian youth are robbed of their future and, tragically, their lives. And yet, in his recent BBC interview ahead of the war’s fourth anniversary, Zelensky suggested that Putin has already started World War III, framing the conflict as the opening phase of a broader global threat that Ukraine is working to contain. He emphasized the need for continued pressure on Russia rather than immediate negotiations without concessions. Such rhetoric raises serious questions about the path forward, especially when we consider the bigger picture: how a European Union, which is supposed to put the interests of its members above all, instead downplays these interests and, in fact, puts its members in danger. With the dream of an EU army, the realities of war economics (knowing that once you have lent this much money, the only return on investment is to continue the war), the shifting power games within NATO, and the forced, accelerated accession of Ukraine to the EU, which crosses every law and criterion the EU has upheld since its foundation, one must ask the honest question:

Will we allow the European Union to forsake its founding principles and sacrifice the future of its own people for the sake of a relentless, unaccountable, and ever-escalating conflict in a non-EU member state? 

As a Hungarian, I watch my country’s energy security held hostage, my government’s legitimate veto branded as treason, and my people’s future mortgaged to a war that Brussels insists we must fund without question. Meanwhile, Ukraine receives sums that dwarf aid to our own struggling regions, all while blocking pipelines and playing politics with our supplies.

To me, in this form, it goes beyond solidarity; it is rather subjugation. The EU was built on cooperation among equals, not coercion by a self-appointed elite. Four years of war have exposed the rot: double standards, endless escalation, and a refusal to confront uncomfortable realities.  

Author - Virag Gulyas is a journalist and commentator who champions common sense and conservative values. She covers global security, immigration, human rights, and cultural issues. A survivor of two terrorist attacks in Europe, she delivers raw, honest insights on extremism and its impact on Western society. Having lived in five countries, she currently resides in New York City.       

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