Hungary's Orban meets pope with Ukraine war as backdrop

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has met with Pope Francis at the Vatican as the war in Ukraine cast a shadow over two leaders who have long sought closer ties with Russia

VATICAN CITY -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday as the war in Ukraine and the millions of refugees it has created cast a shadow over two leaders who have long sought closer ties with Russia.

The 45-minute meeting was the second between Francis and Orban in less than a year, but couldn't have been more different in tone. The pope made a brief stop in Budapest to close out a church congress, and the awkwardness of that September encounter was evident given his and nationalist Orban's starkly different views of mass migration to Europe.

But on Thursday, a smiling and jovial Francis showed his appreciation for the welcome Hungary had provided to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. He gave Orban a medallion of St. Martin and said he chose it specifically to honor Hungary's reception of refugees.

Hungary has emerged as a major transit country for the war's refugees. More than 476,000 people have entered the country’s territory from Ukraine since the conflict began eight weeks ago, according to the U.N. refugee agency.