Mr Orbán said nation policy is an enormous challenge for the Hungarian governments of the day; this is the area where one cannot utter a single word without the weight of risks.
He designated the dilemma of war or peace as the most important topical issue. He said it is a fundamental question for the Hungarian community in the Carpathian Basin whether there will be war or peace in Europe. In his view, we are in a strange war as Europe is – according to its own definition – at war; Europe’s leaders talk about the Russo-Ukrainian war as our war.
He also said the American peace efforts have been derailed by European resistance. If European leaders stopped doing everything they can to foil the US President’s attempts, a Russian-Ukrainian European and American agreement would have already been concluded a long time ago, he stressed.
In his view, this is a strange war because no soldiers of the EU Member States are stationed in the territory of Ukraine, they are not waging a war in a physical sense, but are making someone else wage that war for them. He observed that this had once been called a proxy war, but here the EU openly admits that they are behind the Ukrainian troops fighting on the frontline.
He stressed that European leaders wanted to continue the war. They are not engaged in talks with the Russians, only with the Ukrainians, and are doing everything they can to move the Americans from the side of peace efforts to the European position supporting Ukraine. Today, European decision-makers have a war strategy, and converting the whole European economy into a war economy of some kind is a part of this, he warned, recalling that Europe has to date spent EUR 180 billion on the war, and only at the latest Copenhagen EU summit, they wanted to give the Ukrainians another EUR 40 billion with a single decision.
He spoke about the issue of the seized Russian currency reserves, worth somewhere between EUR 150 and 170 billion. He added that he had contacted the Russians because he needed to know what counter-measures could be expected if these assets were seized and used for financing Ukraine’s expenditures, including whether the assets of Hungarian businesses operating in Russia would be seized or not in response.
If the assets of these companies are seized, it is rather difficult to find a reason why Hungary should support the seizing of the frozen Russian assets, he pointed out.
He mentioned that according to the draft of the EU’s next seven-year budget, 20 to 25 per cent of the money would go to Ukraine on a variety of grounds, despite the fact that Ukraine was not yet a member of the EU.
The risk of Europe entering a war – conveying the threat of ever further involvement – is today the highest since the outbreak of the war, he pointed out.
Hungary has a counter-proposal: we should engage in talks, he stressed, indicating that rather than wanting to block decisions or to destroy, Hungary wants to convince the others of its different position.
In continuation, he said Europe should not be sitting idly in the auditorium, waiting to be invited to Washington and to be seated on a row of chairs placed in front of the desk of the big boss, but should instead conduct talks with the Russians independently and should not wait for merely “deriving” a position from the Russian-American agreement.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that today Europe was stronger than Russia by magnitudes. While the Russians are around 140 million, the population of the European Union is above 400 million, while the GDP of the Member States, too, is several times that of the Russians, and their combined military budget likewise exceeds that of the Russians, he argued.
At the same time, in his view, it nonetheless seems that the Russians are strong and the Europeans are weak, and the explanation for this is that the Russians are prepared to fight, while the Europeans are – rightly – not doing any such thing.
If you have strength, you must demonstrate it, and if Europe refuses to fight, then it can only demonstrate its strength in one single place, by the negotiating table, he laid down.
Mr Orbán said Ukraine is not the most important issue of the agreement; while it is also an important issue, it is not the only and not the most important issue. We should build a new European security system, should clarify the issues of armament, regarding the sizes of the armies of each party, and an agreement must be concluded with a control mechanism put in place because in the shadow of the war countries withdrew from the earlier disarmament agreements one by one, he explained.
He said Hungary is not in the position to spend an ever larger percentage of its gross domestic product on armaments, and while we must keep “a reasonable amount of weaponry ready for military action that results in a reasonable level of security,” it is contrary to the Hungarian people’s best interests to spend ever more on weapons in a race that might spiral out of control.
He added that there was a long list of issues on which an agreement should be reached with the Russians, including trade, the sanctions and the issue of energy, too.
He took the view that the same as in the case of migration, within a year or two, also on the issue of war and peace, it will turn out that the Hungarian position was right – the position which sought to pursue a calm and composed foreign policy, based on the identification of European interests and common sense, with respect to the Russo-Ukrainian war. There is some immodesty in the statement that the Hungarians are not right, but will be right, but there is a great deal of truth in it, he said.
The Russo-Ukrainian war is suffocating, blocking economic growth in Europe, but if the war finally came to an end, then within a very short time economic growth would triple, the Prime Minister stated.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that the Ukrainians’ fantastic resistance on the frontline so far was a success and a heroic achievement, but he warned: notwithstanding these heroic efforts, Ukraine has lost a fifth of its territory, its economy is in ruins, and without EU funds the Ukrainian economy is unable to function.
“We are paying” the Ukrainians’ pensions and salaries, the army and also the procurement of military equipment because the Americans have quit all that, he said, adding that the Americans are selling weapons which Europe is buying for hundreds of billions and is then sending to Ukraine. From now on, the war does not cost the Americans anything; while they make a profit, rather than lose, on the sale of weapons, the Europeans “keep forking out,” he said. The result being – according to the Prime Minister – that due to the war atmosphere and politics, the European economy is stagnating, and as long as the war continues, it will not be able to embark on a course of growth.
At the same time, if the war could be concluded with a peace deal or even just a ceasefire, then within a very short time economic growth would minimum triple which would mean in Hungary’s case that instead of one per cent there would be a three per cent growth, the Prime Minister stated.
Mr Orbán took the view that the ailments of the Hungarian economy, its existing weak points are not structural in their nature, but are fundamentally cyclical and are related to the war. Therefore, this is yet another robust reason for the Hungarian government – also on account of the economic welfare of its own citizens if nothing else – to persevere with the peace policy that is opposed to war.
He drew attention to the EU summit to be held at the end of October, the agenda of which featured the financing of the war, Ukraine’s EU membership and the issue of frozen Russian assets.
He said it is good news that in addition to the Slovaks, the Czechs, too, “may embark on a different course” in the wake of the formation of a government after the elections, and as a result, together with the Hungarian and Italian prime ministers, there will be four prime ministers out of the 27 who are more or less pro-peace, stand on the foundations of common sense and are opposed to bureaucratic centralisation in Brussels.
Mr Orbán expressed hope in connection with the relaunch of the V4 cooperation as, in his view, the Polish President is pursuing a different strategy than the Polish government. He was of the opinion that the V4 were successful until they were torn apart with assistance from Brussels and Berlin.
He said the most important development of the past year is that in America there has been a radical political turnaround, a patriotic, nationalist government entered into power which seeks to preserve, at the expense of major changes, the leading role of the United States in the world economy and world politics. The new US leadership has returned from an ideological foundation to the foundation of common sense, and is pursuing a kind of common sense-based peace policy everywhere in the world, he laid down. The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that the two most important forces other than the United States – China and India – are fast developing ever closer ties, and in his view, the cooperation system of the eastern world is becoming stronger and more defined.
Regarding the situation in the Middle East, Mr Orbán described the ceasefire agreement as an enormous achievement, but warned that this was only the first chapter, the second one was much more complex. They want to place the entire Gaza Strip under a new administrative, military and economic system, and here there are even more details yet to be clarified, he underlined.
In the context of the technological transformation currently under way, he highlighted that innovations were becoming integrated into the functioning of the world economy’s more advanced countries at a pace which would have an explosive effect in the next few years. Services based on artificial intelligence have also arrived in our everyday lives, he added, drawing attention to the fact that the operation of a single large artificial intelligence centre requires a quantity of electricity which can only be satisfied with completely novel energy projects; not even the Paks project will be enough for this.
Mr Orbán believes it is key that Hungary should not get stuck in the present, but should be able to remain a part of “the processes and developments that kick the door down.”
He highlighted that to this end it was necessary for the government not to change the foreign policy which – rather than favouring the development of blocs – paid attention to every part of the world and sought to obtain from everywhere the knowledge and technological innovations representing the highest standards which Hungary most needed.
We cannot side with anyone, copying technological solutions; instead, using our situation and position, we must gather together the best elements – everywhere from energy generation through robotisation to artificial intelligence – and knead them into a Hungarian future strategy, he stressed.
He said we need a government knowledge centre that continuously evaluates modern technological processes and developments and we also need the ability to respond, not allowing us “to fall out of the future.” He asked the member organisations of the Hungarian Standing Conference to also include – in addition to traditional minority topics – the systematisation of knowledge related to the technologies of the future in their agenda.
Evaluating relations with the neighbouring countries, he said Ukraine is a hostile country to Hungary, and this also has an impact on the local Hungarian minority.
The Ukrainians have deeply infiltrated Hungarian politics and the Hungarian economy, he indicated, adding that Ukraine is a serious country; despite all difficulties, it must be taken seriously when it comes to the ability to enforce interests abroad. He also recalled that more than ten million Ukrainians had left their country, “some of them with specific assignments.”
They are seeking to build strong connections in Hungary as well – from the media through politics to the economy – with a view to changing the present Hungarian pro-sovereignty foreign policy, the Prime Minister pointed out in connection with the Ukrainians.
He added, however, that there was no point in approaching this issue with anger because in a reversed situation we would be doing the same, perhaps, a little more elegantly. Ukraine has a vested interest in involving as many countries as possible in the war. This is an existential issue for them; we, however, will preserve our cool, he laid down.
Addressing minority leaders from Ukraine, he stressed that Hungary was fully behind the Hungarian community of Transcarpathia; the Hungarian community living there can count on Hungary in every respect.
Talking about cooperation with the Romanians, he first spoke about Romania’s economic difficulties and its 9.4 per cent budget deficit, and then congratulated the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) on the fact that they took on governmental responsibility even amidst such a situation.
Hungary is at your disposal, he reassured President of RMDSZ Hunor Kelemen, reminding his audience that “at the end of the day, we took the Romanians into Schengen,” and this has created a basis of trust.
Regarding Austria, he said he has a balanced relationship with the Austrian chancellor. He observed at the same time that he sincerely hoped that sooner or later the party winning the elections, too, would be allowed to form a government in Austria. How interesting it would be if they tried that, too, he said.
In the context of Serbian-Hungarian relations, he thanked the politicians of Vojvodina for their involvement. He added that it was not his duty to comment on internal political affairs in Serbia, but he sincerely hoped that “the current political line in Serbia will emerge from this situation intact, and the Serbian-Hungarian cooperation of strategic importance will survive.”
He said Hungary has a peculiar relationship with Croatia; it is a recurring element of his talks with the Croatian Prime Minister that the Hungarians living in Croatia are reliable and well-prepared partners in government.
Mr Orbán described Slovenia as a very mysterious country. He expressed hope that after the elections due to the held at the beginning of next year, there will be a more fortunate and easier period for the Hungarians of Slovenia than they have had in the past three to four years.
He said Slovenia is the only country with which Hungary is unable to come to an agreement regarding the issue of the construction of a gas pipeline. He argued that it would be an elementary interest of Hungary to connect itself to the enormous Italian energy system in order to gain access to oil and gas from North Africa, too.
He illustrated the good relations Hungary has with Slovakia today with the example that 15 years ago it would have been inconceivable that the Slovak prime minister should represent the position of the Hungarian prime minister missing the first half of the meeting of the European council due to the 23 October state commemoration. This is a very promising and, at the same time, edifying sign regarding the future: there are no relations that are entirely without hope, he pointed out.
He said they are in the process of building another large cargo bridge over the Danube, and they are also working on the implementation of a major economic package with the Slovaks who have become Hungary’s third most important trade partners.
Mr Orbán said if natural order is restored in Poland, the Czechs form their government, Slovakia perseveres, Hungary stands its ground, the Austrians make an attempt to allow the winning party to form a government and the Serbs, too, persevere with their foreign policy based on common sense, then a very strong Central European bloc could come into being.
In continuation, he said this offers the prospect of a completely different Europe as this region’s economic growth potential is well above that of the countries of Western Europe.
It is true that they are richer and have more capital, but the future is not on their side, the future is on the side of the Central Europeans, and if we can unite the countries of Central Europe in such a system, then this could mean an entirely different Europe for the next 15 to 20 years, Mr Orbán laid down.
The Prime Minister said he is convinced that today Hungary is in a situation “regarding both its spirit and its psyche” that forces pursuing a policy against Hungarians beyond the borders are simply unable to enter into power. These forces want to take the franchise of Hungarians beyond the borders away; they do not want to connect the nation parts beyond the borders to the motherland with the same intensity as the incumbent government does; and neither do they want to realise that the resources provided for Hungarians beyond the borders are crucial for those living within the borders as well.
He took the view that there is no return to the era when the Hungarian community was not treated as a single whole, as a single nation, but as communities living in the territories of different states for which the Hungarian state bears no responsibility.
He stressed: in the past 15 years, a central force field has developed around the most important political topics – family support, workfare economy and the unity of the nation – which means that regardless of any change of government, this core will remain intact. Therefore, the Hungarians beyond the borders can look forward to the next Hungarian elections optimistically, Mr Orbán added, stressing that anyone who interferes with these topics will be unable to earn the recognition of the electorate.
The Prime Minister said he is convinced that today the organisations and communities of Hungarians beyond the borders stand on unshakeably robust foundations, equally in a financial, political and legal sense. He thanked organisations from beyond the borders for their cooperation and support in the past 15 years, indicating that the next Hungarian Standing Conference will be held after the elections in Hungary. He observed that he would like nothing more than to continue the work commenced.
More news
