EU And NATO Leadership Have Leadership Problem When “Not Acceptable” Behavior By A Head Of State Seeking EU And NATO Membership Has No Consequence And Thus Becomes Acceptable.
EU And NATO Comity Dead?
When “Not Acceptable” Becomes Acceptable, EU Rolling Toward Inoperability.
EU Leadership Has Leadership Problem When “Not Acceptable” Behavior By A Head Of State Seeking EU Membership Has No Consequence And Thus Becomes Acceptable.
Demanding No Apology. No Apology Offered.
EC Criticized President Zelensky. He Ignored It. EC Accepted It.
EU Governs By Majority vote, Qualified Majority Vote, and Unanimity- None Of Which Could Be Summoned To Demand An Apology.
NATO Silence Too.
One NATO Delegation Responds “Reaction to such statements does not lie in the[ir] competence…”
This was not a threat from some anonymous drunkard in a London pub. This threat gave birth from the mouth of a head of state representing approximately forty million citizens.
Members of the Brussels, Belgium-based twenty-seven-country member European Union (EU) must prepare for a government of Ukraine including or excluding Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019-2024; term extended due to imposition of martial law in 2022), which will seek to inflict revenge upon the government of Hungary and the government of Slovak Republic, and likely other governments whom political leadership in Kyiv believe were (are) insufficiently supportive in connection to the Russian Federation-Ukraine War (2014- ).
EU: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
The European Commission (EC) shared publicly that comments by President Zelensky directed to Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary (1998-2022 and 2014- ), were “not acceptable.”
“Escalation of rhetoric by all sides is not helping our goals, and the type of language used yesterday by President Zelensky is not acceptable. There must be no threat against EU member states. We are very clear, as the European Commission, that that type of language is not acceptable.” Olof Gill, European Commission Deputy Chief Spokesperson
Surprising since that rebuke is the EC refraining from demanding President Zelensky apologize for threatening to have murdered a prime minister of an EU-member country. To date, that statement from the deputy chief spokesperson suggests the end of the matter.
Neither Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, president (2019-2029) of the European Commission (EC), nor Antonio Costa, president (2024-2029) of the European Council (EC), have issued statement(s) under their names regarding the statement by President Zelensky.
For the EU, there is increasing distance between words from leadership and actions by leadership.
In response to ongoing operational decisions since 7 October 2023 by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) within the territory of Gaza which have destroyed more than 90% of infrastructure and structures, more than 72,000 inhabitants dead, and more than 172,000 injured, the depth and scope of the EU response is painfully limited:
Should there be an entrant from the State of Israel in the annual Eurovision competition.
Should a football team representing the State of Israel be permitted to compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
No EU-wide sanctions. No EU-wide tariffs.
There are reports of EU-based companies exporting to the State of Israel products for military use.
Likewise, has been the silence from leadership of the thirty-two-member-country Brussels, Belgium-based North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Hungary is a member of NATO. Mark Rutte, Secretary-General (2024-2028) of NATO, remains silent as to the implication(s) of a head of state whose government desires NATO membership receiving immunity after threatening a prime minister of a NATO member country.
Only one NATO member delegation issued a statement in response to a question about what President Zelensky said about Prime Minister Orban: “Reaction to such statements does not lie in the competence of Polish Delegation to NATO.”
NATO: United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, and North Macedonia, Sweden.
Twenty-three members of NATO are also members of the EU: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden
Mr. Rutte’s 2025 comment “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop” when referring to President Trump remains the most cringe-worthy comment by a NATO Secretary-General.
To continue with that metaphor, the children (NATO Members) should ensure that Daddy is not unhappy:
President Zelensky threatened the life of a friend of Donald Trump, President of the United States (2017-2021 and 2025-2029).
Prime Minister Orban is a supporter of President Trump, has received President Trump’s “Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary,” and supports the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
President Trump knows that President Zelensky, along with some EU member governments and some NATO member governments are doing everything they can to prevent the re-election of Prime Minister Orban on 12 April 2026.
If Prime Minister Orban is defeated, President Trump will blame President Zelensky, EU leadership, and NATO leadership.
“President Trump is deeply committed to your [Prime Minister Orban’s] success, because your success is our success.” Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State
When EU leadership and NATO leadership defend only those with whom they agree, despite the one they disagree with having membership in the EU and in NATO, the linkage between appointed leadership and elected members expands.
Link To Related Analysis
Link: 12/22/25-The Political Anomaly Between Ukrainian Railways And Hungarian Railways- When 13.6 Miles Demonstrate Zelensky And Orban Can Cooperate
