Hungary has announced it has opened its border to all citizens and legal residents of Ukraine, even those that might have been subject to military conscription in the Ukrainian armed forces.

"We're letting everyone in," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Saturday news conference. "I've seen people who have no travel documents, but we're providing them too with travel documents. And we're also allowing in those who have arrived from third countries after the proper screening."

The news is noteworthy, because Orban has been opposed to all forms of immigration in his country, and he has never made any secret of his desire for warm ties with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters.

Hungary has five border crossings along its 85-mile border with Ukraine and thousands of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion have crossed in recent days, according to The Associated Press.

Orban has been Putin's closest ally in the European Union, but he said Russia's invasion of Hungary's neighbor will likely change his stance.

Hungary will now support all European Union sanctions against Russia and will not block anything, Orban said Saturday, speaking on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.

"Hungary made clear that we support all the sanctions, so we will block nothing, so what the prime ministers of the European Union are able to agree, we accept it and we support it," he told reporters in English.

"This is the time to be united, it's a war," he said, adding that peace efforts were the most important.

Information from Reuters and AP was used in this report.

• Rep. Kinzinger: Start No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine
• Germany Approves Export of 400 RPGs to Ukraine