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Mr Orbán said we must do everything we can to stop the spread and escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war. He said from a Ukrainian national point of view, the escalation of the war appears to be a logical aspiration as, he said, the Ukrainians feel that the more countries they are able to involve in their war against the Russians, the better their chances of winning. By contrast, he said in continuation, the Hungarians know that they must stay out of the war because drifting into it would be contrary to the Hungarian national interests.
“The stakes of the election are clear: war or peace. The balance of power is secondary now because we will win these elections,” Mr Orbán stressed, taking the view that the Left’s only hope is that this time the government parties will not swim a world record time.
“This is why they keep saying what percentage would be a failure for Fidesz. We are incredibly strong and will win the elections if we mobilise our forces,” he pointed out.
He recalled that in 2022 the Left had tried combining forces completely; now, however, it seems as if they resorted to the recipe of 2014 and 2018, and the political camp opposed to the government is becoming split again. But, he recalled, Fidesz-KDNP had a two-thirds majority in all three elections.
He took the view that in addition to the war, the only opponent of the government parties is routine, meaning that if their supporters believe that as they always win, victory will come about of its own accord. He stressed that “we must go out to the street,” “we must go and meet the people,” and then the social majority on the civic, national and Christian side will also be enforced in the election results.
In the context of the EP elections, he said regardless of who sits in which parliamentary group, the most important question is how many pro-war and how many pro-peace deputies there will be. He indicated that he would not mind having to cooperate with left-wing forces if they were pro-peace.
He said what is most important is to resist the aspirations that are aimed at preparing an armed intervention outside the territory of NATO.
In his view, we need pro-peace institutions that want to improve competitiveness, and we need politicians in EU positions who want to implement this policy.
The reinstatement of conscription is not on the agenda in Hungary, Mr Orbán laid down, stressing that NATO guarantees the collective defence of its members, and so Hungary “can afford the luxury” of only maintaining a professional army.
Regarding Manfred Weber’s statements concerning compulsory European military service, he took the view that the leader of the European People’s Party wants a European imperial army. This would mean that “our people would be conscripted into the imperial army, and then one day we will receive news about what’s happening to our Hungarian boys on the front,” he said, rejecting this concept.
He pointed out that an independent Hungarian army was required; we cannot delegate the responsibility for “disposing of Hungarian blood” to any empire.
Mr Orbán also said on the part of the Germans “more restraint would be required” because “this – taking advantage of the fact that they’re the biggest in the European Union – is a return to German speech from a basis of power and strength.”
He pointed out that there was “natural friendship” between Germans and Hungarians, but in in his view, on the issue of the Holocaust, sending armoured vehicles to former Soviet territories or the issue of migration, Germany would do well to exercise “some caution.”
“The Germans want to force migration upon us, they want to tell us whom to live together with, but earlier they wanted to tell us whom not to live together with, and they took the Jews away,” he observed.
In his view, at the same time, there is a need for European cooperation in military policy, including coordinated European defence industry developments implemented on a national basis, the protection of the market of European military equipment so that the Europeans buy weapons from one another, and the coordination of military strategies. There is also a need for a European defence alliance similar to NATO which is based on national offerings, rather than on conscription.
The Prime Minister levelled criticism at the activities of Ursula von der Leyen as, in his view, the President of the European Commission found herself stuck between two roles: she was a politician and at the same time she was not, and this is what caused the problem.
“We need a commission president who knows that we are his or her employers.”
Ursula von der Leyen is “an employee of the twenty-seven prime ministers. Who is she to represent any political opinion?” Mr Orbán asked, taking the view that the council of heads of state and government must take the right of control back, the commission must be pushed back into an executive role, while the European Parliament should be eliminated in its present form and we should return to the situation where the national parliaments delegate deputies.
Regarding Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the position of NATO Secretary General, Mr Orbán said Hungary supports Romania nominating its own candidate.
He also said, on the one hand, Hungary has an issue of honour with the Dutch Prime Minister who earlier spoke about the exclusion of Hungary from the EU and bringing Hungary to its knees, speaking in a tone that we last heard from the German occupiers and Stalin’s henchmen.
“He must do something about this situation, he’s asking for Hungary’s trust with such a position, and so he can be expected to stand up and say something about this,” he observed.
The other issue is a military policy demand: Hungary would like to conclude an agreement with the prospective secretary general about the fact that it will not take part in NATO’s operations in Ukraine against the Russians even if it is a member of NATO. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Hungary has that right from a legal point of view also now, but they expect “this to be declared a politically approved, presentable position.”
Talking about Hungarian-Chinese relations, he said all at once Hungary would like to be friends with multiple players who are otherwise engaged in a conflict with each other; meaning that it would like to maintain good relations with the United States of America and China at the same time.
Mr Orbán stressed that the Chinese did not replace the Russians. He indicated that he wanted to intensify cooperation with the Russians in areas not affected by the EU sanctions.
“We’re not doing this surreptitiously as some Western European countries are,” he observed, adding that if the foundations for cooperation exist on the basis of national interests, such cooperation is readily acceptable, and he is willing to go ahead with it.
In connection with the assassination attempt against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, he said he has not yet spoken to the Slovak Prime Minister in person, he has only spoken to his people, but it is not easy to consult with Robert Fico on the telephone anyway because he is one of Europe’s most cautious men who does not even have his own telephone.
At the same time, he indicated that they were in contact with the colleagues and family of the Slovak Prime Minister; he is seeking an opportunity to visit him because he believes that it is important to relay – beyond his personal respect and camaraderie – “the best wishes of the Hungarian people.”
He described his relationship with Robert Fico as special, stating that he has turned “from an anti-Hungarian politician into an advocate of sovereignty.”
In Mr Orbán’s opinion, there is no doubt that there is a threat that such an assassination attempt could also take place in Hungary. Referring to comments posted on the Internet in this regard, he took the view that it would be necessary to consider laying down clear rules also in this area because in a case to the contrary, “one-off attacks could become a daily occurrence.”
In the context of the municipal elections, the Prime Minister said similar to the majority of the residents of Budapest, he, too, can “only say negative things” about the performance of the mayor of the capital. He likened Gergely Karácsony to footballers “who miss a penalty, and then blame it on the boots or the grass.” In his view, also in the capital the government parties represent the biggest political force, and in the person of Alexandra Szentkirályi, they have found Fidesz’s leader of Budapest also in the long run.
The Prime Minister admitted that while they had achieved results in Hungary’s demographic indicators, they had now come to a halt. At the same time, he also indicated that he did not believe that demographic policy was equal to family policy because the success of a family policy cannot be measured in demographic indicators.
He said the government does not want to “pursue a migrant-based demographic policy,” but instead wants to solve this problem “within our national, Christian cultural sphere.”
In his view, in this field we should expect impulse-like improvement, rather than gradual, ongoing improvement, and many people are making every effort – from fiscal policy all the way to housing – so that the government can give the Hungarian economy another major, demographically motivated boost.
However, Mr Orbán also warned that if the war continued, we would be required to spend three per cent of GDP on security. If there is no war, then two per cent would be enough, and it would take care of a fair number of problems if they were able to spend the difference between the two on families.
