Talking to members of the press after the Wednesday meeting of the Patriots party group in Brussels, the Prime Minister said Member States were avoided, the procedure was “undermined,” and instead of unanimity, they resorted to a majority decision which is “a historic mistake.”
According to the Prime Minister, there was an open violation as they referred to an article of the Treaties which has nothing to do with the situation that has developed, and such a legal position cannot be defended before a court of law. He added that the idea of leaving unanimity behind is emerging in ever more areas, including on the issues of the Russian assets and collective borrowing, which could have serious consequences because it creates a precedent for avoiding Member States.
Mr Orbán underlined that it would amount to an open declaration of war if the European Union used the frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. He said in the case of two countries at war with each other, confiscating one party’s assets worth more than EUR 200 billion and handing them over to the other warring party would mean the direct entry into war on the part of a third party.
“We suggest that we put this put strategy, this flawed EU strategy and the strategy that supports the war, to one side, let’s make a U-turn, let’s come out of this dead-end street and let’s start a peace policy,” the Prime Minister said, adding that “the easiest way to do so is by joining the President of the United States and saying that we now have a single thing to do, to help the President of the United States to succeed in restoring peace.”
He said, based on background consultations, he believes that the proposal on the frozen Russian assets may be removed from the agenda. He added that for the event that they should wish to continue financing the war in some other way, a proposal for collective EU borrowing emerged which Hungary finds unacceptable. According to Mr Orbán, war is expensive, while peace is cheap, and while people die in a war, no one has ever died of peace.
According to the Prime Minister, the issue of the Mercosur deal is another, but similar problem to the issue of the Russian assets: the Brussels bureaucrats want to sign the deal by avoiding the decision-making powers of the Member States. The Prime Minister described this as “a conspiracy” and “a coup,” and said it is a realistic threat that this practice may be repeated in other areas and against other Member States as well. He stressed that this must be stopped, and it is an urgent matter whether the Member States will be able to rein in Brussels.
Mr Orbán described detachment from Russian energy as a failure, indicating that the expansion and diversification of energy sources is a good objective, however. He said the goal is not to detach ourselves from certain sources, but for Europe to stand on as many legs as possible. In his view, the European leadership made multiple historic mistakes, including the chaotic implementation of the green transition, the supporting of migration and the war.
The Prime Minister stressed that Hungary would never accept a decision which prescribed mandatory detachment from any source of energy because it was economically unreasonable and contrary to the Hungarian interests. He added that today Hungary did not just buy energy, but also acquired oil and gas fields through state-owned and private companies, and would pursue this policy in the future as well.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the activities of the incumbent leaders of EU institutions. He took the view that the European leadership “made some historic mistakes which can even fit into the category of crime.” He mentioned among these the process referred to as green transition which, in his words, “is a completely chaotic method, one that’s ruining European economies,” the supporting of migration and the war.
“I have to say that here, leadership mistakes have been made in recent periods which have led European Member States to a dead-end street. This is not something to be discussed anymore, slowly, but surely we must point the finger at someone: who is responsible, how did we get here?” the Prime Minister said, adding that “they’ve destroyed the entire European economy. When [the incumbent President of the European Commission Ursula] von der Leyen took office, this was a competitive region.”
In connection with the new Slovak legislation related to the Benes Decrees, Mr Orbán said they must first conduct talks aimed at clarification in order to find out precisely what the new legislation is about. According to the Prime Minister, the wording itself cannot be construed in the language of Hungarian law because there is no such category in the Hungarian legal system that an issue “cannot be questioned.”
He added there was one single exception in the case of Holocaust denial where the denial of a historical fact was forbidden. Mr Orbán stressed that he was also in contact with the Hungarian community of Slovakia, and it would be decided after clarification whether further steps or talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico would be required.
