Orban: Clinton asked Hungary to attack Serbia in 1999, but Budapest refused

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed that former U.S. President Bill Clinton once asked Hungary to launch an attack on Serbia, but Budapest refused, a Hungarian outlet Telex reports.

Speaking at a meeting with residents of Szombathely, Orban said the story—one he had never previously shared publicly—was about the importance of being able to say “no” when it comes to war.

According to Orban, in 1999, shortly after he first became prime minister, Clinton called him and asked Hungary to “shell Serbia through Vojvodina all the way to Belgrade.”

When Orban raised concerns about the fate of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians living in Vojvodina, the U.S. president allegedly replied that he was ready to discuss the matter in person at a NATO summit a week later, but the issue was never raised again.

“If we had had a prime minister who could only say, ‘Yes, sir,’ we would have been dragged deep into war,” Orban concluded.

By Khagan Isayev