The Prime Minister said he agrees with opinions to the effect that Europe’s defence must be reinforced because Europe is weak at present. It is for this reason that rather than supporting the reinforcement of the Ukrainian army, he supports the efforts which seek to reinforce the military capacities of the Member States of the European Union and NATO, he stressed.
He added: he also agrees with opinions to the effect that Russia only understands the language of force, but it is for this very reason that Europe must be very strong. “Ukraine, however, is making us weaker, not stronger,” he stressed.
He also spoke about the fact that after an era of global liberalism, the world is heading in the direction of patriotism enforced at local levels. This change did not begin in the past two to three years, but much earlier, and at present, a new world order is unfolding, he added.
He said the previous phase of the modern history of politics which can be described as liberal has clearly come to an end, and while for the time being, no one has yet found a fitting description for the next era, we call it patriotic. This description is probably not accurate enough, but its essence is that at present, we are moving away from global liberalism towards local patriotism, he added.
In answer to the question of whether he agrees with the operations launched by the United States in Iran, Mr Orbán said, based on his latest talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington, his impression is that in Mr Trump’s view, Iran is the source of the war. He added that his approach was more cautious than that of the US President because the conclusion of previous conflicts in the region was that while it was easy to destroy a country’s army, it was very difficult to consolidate power. In this situation, one gets easily tempted to consolidate power with soldiers deployed to the region, but “you can get stuck in this,” and so at present, the Americans, President Trump and the West’s peace-loving communities are facing a major risk, the Prime Minister said.
Mr Orbán said Donald Trump is a personality who can shake up the poor leadership concept that currently prevails in the West and can shape a new type of leader character. The Prime Minister said the general conviction in Europe is that a strong leader is a threat, and is as such a bad thing. According to this concept, the task of leaders must be confined to the management of institutions which is an utterly flawed concept, this leadership concept must be changed, and Donald Trump has done just that, Mr Orbán said in the Wednesday interview.
He added: we need institutions, and when things are going well, these institutions play a stabilising role. When, however, crises develop and dilemmas emerge on the horizon, someone has to make decisions, and only human beings are capable of this, institutions are not, he pointed out. In times of trouble, we need not institutions, but leaders, people who are brave and strong enough, and who are ready to take responsibility for their decisions. In Europe, there are not such leaders in sufficient numbers; luckily, in the United States there are, Mr Orbán said.
In answer to the question of why Hungary is not leaving the EU if it is unwilling to accept the European Union’s immigration rules, he said Hungary lives in an area situated between the East and the West, but culturally, philosophically and historically, it has always belonged to the West, to Europe’s Roman-Christian traditions, rather than to the Eastern orthodox or southern Muslim communities. In the Hungarian people’s minds, belonging to the EU emerges as a question of which civilisation Hungary is a part of, he added.
According to Mr Orbán, another, more practical approach to this issue is that after World War I, Hungary lost territories, it has no energy sources or raw materials of its own. Therefore, it only has products made from hard work, for these Hungary needs markets, and the European Union is a market.
For us, the European Union represents not values, but a simple market. Values are a different matter; regrettably, from the viewpoint of values, the European Union is proceeding in a direction which has nothing to do with the values we profess, the Prime Minister laid down.
In answer to a question relating to Hungary’s relationship with Russia and the criticisms concerning this, Mr Orbán said, in his view, it would be a mistake to push Russia out of the European security, trade and energy systems. We see no meaningful reason why it would not be possible to create a new European security architecture in which Russia, too, could take part, or a new European energy system, of which Russian energy sources form a part, the Hungarian Prime Minister said in the interview given to GB News.
Answering a question relating to the elections, he said if the pro-Brussels forces win, then Hungary would follow the same policies on the issues of migration and Ukraine as Brussels, and he is fighting against this.
More news
