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In the context of the European parliamentary elections due to be held in June, Mr Orbán said so far they have been thinking in terms of traditional categories in connection with European political struggles, that there is right and there is left, there are globalists and pro-sovereignty forces. However, now a new dimension has opened up, and the decisive issue will be who is pro-peace and who is pro-war, rather than party affiliation.
It would be best if electors both in Hungary and the other European countries sent to the European Parliament as many pro-peace politicians and as few pro-war politicians as possible, Mr Orbán stated.
He added that it was also well worth talking about whether this would then lead to left-wing-right-wing cooperation and who would prove to be stronger, but the most important task was to put an end to the “war psychosis.”
The Prime Minister highlighted that in Brussels “there is a war atmosphere, war language, and a war logic.” Leaders speak as if they were waging their own war against Russia, unlike us, and while “we can’t be indifferent to such a human tragedy,” we are not a party to the war.
The distance that would be necessary for a calm approach is lacking entirely in Brussels. Brussels is waging its own war on Ukraine’s side against Russia. “They’re at war, and speak accordingly, saying that Russia must be defeated, and in order to achieve that, they’re undertaking ever further commitments,” Mr Orbán added.
He recalled that first they only wanted to send helmets to Ukraine, next weapons capable of causing death and ever more fatalities, followed by tanks and fighter aircraft, while now there is talk in Brussels that Western European soldiers should also be stationed in the territory of Ukraine. They have not yet precisely outlined where exactly, with what weaponry and to what end soldiers should be stationed in Ukraine, but preparations have already started, he said, observing that we must be careful “not to be sucked” into this psychosis, and “not to lose our bearings in order to remain guided by the correct Hungarian national interests.”
He highlighted that what would have been inconceivable 2 or 3 months ago later becomes a simple everyday occurrence. He recalled that while earlier the Germans spoke about sending helmets, now Germany is considering giving Ukraine missile systems which could even reach Moscow, but could at the very least penetrate the interior of Russian territories.
What is absurd and inconceivable today will become reality in 2 months’ time, he said, adding that this is not a video game, this is reality. The consequence of one decision or another or one weapons consignment or another can be measured in widows in the hundreds of thousands, orphans in the hundreds of thousands, millions fleeing cities, destroyed lives, destroyed cities; the work of entire generations is going down the drain. “These are terrible things, and we’re increasingly talking about them like some everyday reality,” he said.
He pointed out that he was an advocate of reasonable discussion, but we must somehow plant our feet and must stand for ceasefire and peace talks, or else “they will drag us in.”
He indicated that there is no unity about this issue within Hungary itself because while it is true that the government is sober and pro-peace, the Left is pro-war. He said the Hungarian Left’s “remote control, umbilical cord” is in Brussels and in America, “this is where they feed them from,” “this is where they finance them from,” and this is why they advocate a pro-war position. “He who pays the piper calls the tune,” he said.
He observed that while in Hungarian domestic politics there were “episodes resembling The Real World series which keep public opinion in a state of excitement,” what truly matters is the war. He stated “I have no doubt that if we didn’t have a nationally oriented, right-wing government in office in Hungary today, we would be in this conflict that is increasingly escalating between the countries of Western Europe and Russia up to our knees, our waists or even our necks.”
He warned that the beginning of World War I was a local conflict, and only escalated step by step. Similarly, the Russo-Ukrainian war, too, was once a local affair “somewhere in Outer Donetsk,” but now there are discussions about the involvement of NATO countries at a military level.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that Brussels is, in actual fact, a captive of George Soros’s network, and the Soros network has embedded itself into the European institutions to such an extent that it now receives money from the European institutions.
The people of the Soros Empire do not simply hold influencing positions; they have such robust bargaining positions that they are able to help themselves to a part of the money they need to finance themselves from the Brussels budget: they are there, inside the Commission, they are there, inside the European Parliament, and “quite a few prime ministers are clearly on Soros’s payroll,” he said in summary.
He underlined that the enforcement of the European people’s opinion is being made hard by the fact that Brussels itself is becoming increasingly captive to the international network of activists “built by George Soros with painstaking, hard work in the past 30 years.”
Regarding the issue of Ukrainian grain, Mr Orbán highlighted that – rather than isolation – Hungary supports trade, investment and economic cooperation. Now, however, it is opposed to the importation of Ukrainian grain. The reason being that the EU has set extremely bureaucratic and stringent rules for European farmers, while in Ukraine there are no such rules, and this is an enormous competitive advantage for them.
He recalled that Hungarian farmers had been able to sell a part of their produce in Western Europe. There are six or seven countries in Europe which produce more food than they consume, this is a problem for these six or seven countries, including Hungary, the Prime Minister stated.
He added that cheap Ukrainian products are now entering the market, and Western European customers buy the cheaper Ukrainian products, rather than the products of Hungarian farmers. “We are making enormous efforts to place these stocks before next year’s harvest,” he pointed out, indicating that Brussels is “deaf” to this problem and is burning with a war fever; Ukraine is more important for Brussels than European farmers.
It would be much more reasonable not to let grain from Ukraine in, or if we applied the same easy rules to our farmers as to the Ukrainians, he suggested.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that we established the European Union because we wanted peace and welfare; instead, however, now “there is war and hardship.”
Brussels is marching into the war, and the economy – rather than offering welfare – is creating difficulties for ever more social groups, including farmers, he added.
He took the view that the people have fundamentally negative feelings towards the Brussels bureaucrats. Not towards the European Union because everyone supports the idea of cooperation; the problem is with the Brussels bureaucrats, Mr Orbán said.
The Prime Minister was also asked about Fidesz’s plans with Budapest after Fidesz’s Budapest board nominated Alexandra Szentkirályi for the position of mayoral candidate.
Mr Orbán said Gyurcsány’s people must be removed from the metropolitan leadership. He stressed that those who had destroyed the country before 2010 were all there in the metropolitan municipality, pursuing the same policies that they had pursued during their time in government.
Those who bankrupted Hungary are now in the process of bankrupting the capital, too; hence the empty coffers, despite the fact that Budapest is Hungary’s richest city, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister hopes that in the June municipal elections people will elect a mayor for Budapest who will put an end to this. Unless this happens, Budapest will lose all its resources, and bankruptcy – to which the city is already very close – will set in, Mr Orbán stated.
He stressed that Budapest was important, and that he was happy to concern himself with issues that were important for the residents of Budapest. However, today there is no more important issue for the people of Budapest either than whether the Hungarian Left is able to achieve that Brussels take back a part of the high salaries to be provided for school and nursery teachers. This is the battle that is under way today, and there is no more important issue for the people of Budapest either than that there should be a sovereign Hungarian government and that we stop politicians who work against the Hungarian people from going to Brussels, he said.
