According to Mr Orbán, we cannot rule out that 2025 was the last year of peace; a re-distribution of financial, military and political power is currently under way which could even ignite a war.
“Last week in Brussels, all we could achieve was that we slowed down the pace of becoming entangled in the war. There were some who wanted to accelerate this process to hyper-speed, we managed to block them. The process hasn’t stopped, however,” the Prime Minister said.
He recalled that at last week’s Brussels “war council,” European leaders proposed that we provide a loan of EUR 90 billion for Ukraine which would finance another two years of war. We will stay out of this, but these two years could mean 800,000 killed or maimed persons. “Who has the courage to take the moral responsibility for this?” he asked, adding that the tangible war tension in Europe is a consequence of the decline of Western Europe and the EU. Twenty years ago, the economic performance of the European Union and the United States was more or less at the same level; today America is sky-high, while Europe keeps sliding down.
Mr Orbán took the view that Europe is unable to compete, and is trying to generate growth with the war economy. This is also the main reason why the Europeans decided to engage in the Russo-Ukrainian war, even though in February 2022, they could have decided to send peace missions to Moscow and Kiev.
“Had that happened, today we wouldn’t be living in the shadow of the threat of war,” he stressed, observing that Europe must not build its strategic decisions on the foundations of political terms in the United States. When it comes to European affairs, Europe must base its decisions solely on European interests.
According to the Prime Minister, today, the EU is in a state of disintegration: decisions are adopted in Brussels, initially one country refuses to implement them, then two and then three. A good example is the issue of the green transition, and the same can be observed in the case of the issue of migration as well. “Hungary refuses to implement the migration pack, and for this we are fined a million euros a day. The Poles do the same as what we do, but they’re rewarded. The EU is continually reducing the sovereignty of nations, and in the meantime, it is unable to exercise the powers it acquires. Today, chaos prevails in Brussels. Unless swift and in-depth reforms are carried out – which would be possible – disintegration will reach a point of no return,” he stated.
In answer to the question of whether a situation may arise that the price of peace will be Ukraine’s EU membership, Mr Orbán said “luckily, there is no such connection between the two issues,” Ukraine’s EU membership is not realistic. Hungary is openly opposed to even the commencement of talks, but there are a number of Western European countries where parliamentary decisions or referenda would be required. These decisions will not be made. On the Brussels corridors everyone knows this, and everyone says so, too, he added.
He said the Hungarian economy is suffering from the war and the decline of the EU all at once. The policy of sanctions has killed European industry. The price of energy is two to three times higher here than at our competitors. The other problem is that Hungary is a part of a declining Union. “Today, we need the EU, while it is a threat to our very existence all at once. We need it because a considerable percentage of our exports goes to the EU. At the same time, it is a threat to our very existence because if we are unable to re-organise our exports to other emerging regions, then we’ll sink together with it. Our duty is to make Hungary grow while the EU is declining,” he observed.
In the context of the elections, he said he is not afraid of their challengers. Only the names change, the character remains the same, Brussels conjures them up out of a magician’s hat from time to time in order to have somebody to guide Hungary onto the Brussels path. This is also manifested in the Tisza Party’s programme: we must become like Western Europe. In his view, the three sins that destroyed Western Europe are the following: the supremacy of the interests of global big business; letting migrants in and settling them here; and the re-education of children in the spirit of woke and gender ideology. We reject all three, but the Tisza Party stands for them, he pointed out.
“I believe that when we decide about our future, the Hungarians will eventually make a reasonable decision. And we will score an overwhelming victory beyond all expectations,” the Prime Minister stated.
In answer to the question of what he is the proudest of during his 16 years of government, he said “if I have to mention one thing, it is that if in 2010 we hadn’t transformed Hungary, today, there would be two hundred thousand fewer Hungarian children in this country. This is how many more children are sitting under Christmas trees at Christmas today. What could be more important than this?”
When asked about his message for the Hungarian people for Christmas, Mr Orbán said today the western world is in a state of turmoil. At times like this, it is difficult to find something to hold onto. “I reach back to a simple Christian teaching: love your neighbour as yourself. Now, I pay attention not to the first, but to the second part: love yourself. This doesn’t mean self-adoration or self-praise, but that we should appreciate what we have achieved, and should not underestimate the results of our own lives. A family kept together, a child raised and educated decently, holding on to our friends, seeing our parents through their journey with love, a job obtained and retained, a home of your own, a self-confident life that you’re in control of, any sacrifice made for your country – these are all reasons for self-esteem. Correct self-awareness brings self-esteem with it, while self-esteem brings with it the recognition of the results and achievements of others, meaning love for your neighbours. I don’t see any other path that would lead the Hungarians to inner peace.”
