In a decree announced quietly via government gazette on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reversed his recent position by authorizing NATO troops to be deployed to western Hungary and weapons shipments to cross Hungarian soil, though not directly across the country's 85-mile border into Ukraine.
The move marks the latest tap dance, not just for Hungary's most dominant politician, but for all anti-multilateral European nationalists who have spent the past several years cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orbán, who as recently as five weeks ago visited Moscow and described Putin's demands on Ukraine as "normal," has, since the invasion, expressed support for the same European Union economic sanctions he had previously predicted were "doomed to failure."
