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Budapest Times
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Hungary must stay on the side of peace, PM says
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary must stay on the side of peace. The prime minister said the war in Ukraine will not end unless the Russian and US presidents sit down for talks and they reach an overall agreement which will cover the war as an important element, but not the only element. PM Orbán said in the interview with Tamás Király on the YouTube channel Ultrahang that if everyone wanted peace, 'it is impossible that peace would not be achieved'. 'What happens in the current situation is that everyone says they want peace, yet some of them do not really want it,' he added. PM Orbán said that Europeans and Ukrainians obviously wanted to continue war no matter what they said, and the US president truly wanted peace. 'As for the Russians, what's certain is that they want to reach the marked territorial borders and want to prevent, if necessary by war, that Ukraine should become a NATO member or a NATO weapons depository,' he added. Beyond the issue of the war, the comprehensive Russia-US agreement would cover the development of energy prices, US access to Russian markets and Russian access to US markets, economic sanctions, technology, and the issue of arms control, he said. PM Orbán said Hungary was a 'dangerous example' showing in Europe that it was possible to take a stand against war, to stand up for peace, and 'if you are strong enough you can stay out of the war'. Hungary was 'the antithesis of all that Europe is doing, talking about peace but in truth being interested in maintaining the war,' he added. He said he was regularly putting in use all his links with both the Russian and the US presidents to promote peace. While US President Donald Trump has failed to create peace since his inauguration in January, 'if Biden had stayed or Kamala Harris had come in his stead, we would be in the middle of a world war.' Trump 'is a man of peace and doubtlessly the only one with a chance to contribute to a Russia-Ukraine peace' deal, he said. Asked why he stood firmly for keeping Hungary out of the war from the beginning, Orban said his 'firm conviction' was founded on national interests, among other reasons. 'Hungary cannot come out of a situation where 800,000 or a million people are armed in Ukraine, creating a larger and stronger army than Hungary's; only God knows what that would be used in the coming decade,' he said. PM Orbán said 'no condition is in place' for Ukraine to win against Russia. Ukraine 'has fewer men and less money than Russia even is the West stuffs them with money, its weapons industry is decades behind Russia's, and, most importantly, Russia is a nuclear power, and no one … has ever defeated a nuclear superpower'. 'I have always thought that the plan that Ukraine should defeat Russia on the frontline, possibly destabilising it so it can be transformed, was a foolish one,' Orban said. Meanwhile, PM Orbán said the focus of 'the historic period we are living in' was not the Russia-Ukraine war but 'the problem of Christian-Muslim coexistence'. 'What's the point in Christian, white Europeans killing each other by the hundreds of thousands on the Russia-Ukraine border while masses of people, who are strangers to our culture … and belong to the world of Islam are allowed to enter at the other end of the continent?' PM Orbán said that this 'abnormal behaviour' was a sign that 'political leaders are misreading the historic time'. 'The power issues of the Russia-Ukraine war, and its conclusion, may be more important at the moment, but it isn't the historic time that will determine the lives of our children and grandchildren.' He said there was no danger of Russia attacking NATO member states, adding that while Russia had some 140 million inhabitants, the EU had 400 million. Further, the money Russia could plough into a war with Europe 'is a fraction' of what the West could mobilise, even without US help, he said. He said he had yet to see a 'sensible argument' of why Russia would start a war against Western Europe, that it could only lose. At the same time, the Baltic states and Poland 'are worried that NATO won't protect them against a Russian attack; that explains why they want to beat the Russians now and bring the matter to a head,' PM Orbán said. At the same time, the solution to the problem is not on the battlefield, he said. 'The response to their dilemma is not forcing a war but strengthening NATO,' he added. PM Orbán said the NATO summit of 2008 had proven that Russians had the power to prevent Ukrainians or Georgians from becoming NATO members, and since that time once again Russia had to be considered a persisting, long-lasting and continually strengthening player in world politics.
Budapest Times
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
PM Orbán: 'If everyone wants peace, why is there still war?'
Prime Minister Orbán made an appearance on the Ultrahang podcast, offering unfiltered insights into his political philosophy, personal habits, and Hungary's role in the international arena. The conversation ranged from the nature of online media to the geopolitics of the Ukraine war, with the prime minister not holding back. PM Orbán acknowledged that he rarely engages with digital content himself. 'I have a good old Nokia,' he said. 'I'm from the generation that believes a phone is for making phone calls. I do have an iPad, secretly, but it's dangerous. It pulls you in.' He admitted that even his limited browsing often reveals how misunderstood his statements are. 'Sometimes I think, why didn't they just ask me what I meant?' On why he has recently appeared in multiple podcasts, Prime Minister Orbán said he welcomes interviews, but only under certain conditions. 'If there's a chance for a meaningful conversation, I'm available. But I won't sit down for a back-and-forth ambush. And I won't talk to mercenaries — those paid from abroad. I like knowing I'm speaking to the person in front of me, not their funders.' The discussion turned toward the ongoing war in Ukraine, where the prime minister offered a sobering perspective. 'Everyone says they want peace, but there's still war. That means someone is lying.' PM Orbán believes some European and Ukrainian leaders are actively interested in prolonging the conflict. 'They want the war to continue, no matter what they say.' In contrast, he described U.S. President Donald Trump as 'the man of peace.' While Trump has not yet ended the war, the alternative, according to Prime Minister Orbán, could have been catastrophic. 'If Biden or Harris had stayed in power, we might already be in a world war. So we must be grateful that Trump is in office.' He argued that the only path to peace is through direct negotiation between the Russian and American presidents. 'A deal won't come from Kyiv. It must come from Washington and Moscow. Until then, there will be no peace.' The prime minister also outlined why Hungary immediately chose neutrality. 'First, it's about national interest. If our neighbor builds an army of 800,000, no one knows who they'll aim it at next.' He added that from the beginning, the odds were stacked against Ukraine. 'They're fewer in number, under-resourced, and facing a nuclear superpower. No one has ever defeated such a power on the battlefield.' He went further, placing the war within a broader civilizational context. 'While White, Christian Europeans kill each other on the Russian-Ukrainian front, we allow masses of people from alien cultures to flood into Europe. It's abnormal.' Regarding the possibility of Russia attacking Western Europe, Prime Minister Orbán was unequivocal. 'It's not realistic. Russia has 140 million people. The EU has over 440 million, not counting the Americans. Militarily and economically, the West is far stronger. The solution is not pushing war, but strengthening NATO.' He also dismissed the idea of Hungary exiting the EU. 'There's no such moment on the horizon when it would be better to leave. Spiritually, perhaps we are drifting apart, but economically, Hungary benefits more by staying.' Still, he criticized the direction the EU has taken since Hungary's accession. 'There was no talk in 2004 of forced migration, child-rearing policies, or being dragged into war.' On the economic front, the prime minister reflected on 2025's rocky start. 'I expected by now we'd at least have a ceasefire and see economic improvement. But Europe convinced Ukraine to continue the war.' Still, Hungary pressed forward with programs to support business. 'Despite the challenges, we launched initiatives like the Sándor Demjén Program.' Asked about his ideological transformation, he explained his shift from liberalism to conservatism. 'In the 20th century, liberals and conservatives united against totalitarianism. But now liberals claim that anyone who disagrees with them is undemocratic. We've shown there is such a thing as a conservative, Christian democracy. They just refuse to acknowledge it.' Lastly, Prime Minister Orbán addressed whether he would remain in politics if Fidesz moved into opposition. 'Even then, I wouldn't disappear. This is more than a job. It's a mission.'
