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Talking to his interviewer in the Brussels studio of the public service media, the Prime Minister confirmed that he had proposed a ceasefire of a few days for the duration of the Orthodox Christmas and a major prisoner exchange. He said he started Hungary’s EU presidency with a peace mission, and at the end, he “did another round.” He visited the president-elect of the United States, had a long conversation with the President of Russia, and also met with the Turkish president as so far Turkey has been the only successful mediator, having struck a deal on the issue of the exportation of grain, he said.
Justifying his proposal, the Prime Minister said if a comprehensive peace deal is not likely to be achieved this year and neither are the warring parties willing to agree to a longer or permanent ceasefire, then there should at least be a Christmas ceasefire. This is not a far-fetched idea as even in World War I the warring parties managed to agree that at least for a few days no one should die on the front, he pointed out.
According to Mr Orbán, as it is only a few days, any strategic opposition to the ceasefire – that the enemy could regroup during the ceasefire – are invalid. The Christmas ceasefire would convey the message that a peace deal and a ceasefire achievable in the short term in Europe are not entirely without hope because if a ceasefire can be achieved for a few days, it may also be possible to achieve the same after Christmas as a result of a longer series of negotiations, he said.
He added that he had managed to induce the Russian president to consider his proposal, while the Ukrainians had reacted more out of instinct. But if they sit down and consider the proposal, they may easily change their minds, “I believe this would be in their best interests, too.”
Regarding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement made in response to the ceasefire proposal, he said we must not respond to any provocation, “we must handle this generously” because it is the leader of a country which is in trouble and the territory of which is occupied by foreign troops – 18 to 20 per cent of the country’s territory has been occupied. At the same time, the country has lost many millions of people, many have left, hundreds of thousands have died, there are a very large number of injured and disabled people, widows and orphans, the country’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed, and one cannot see what the country will live off in the future. The leader of a country in such a situation sometimes says rash things, he added.
Mr Orbán said two important events are taking place parallel. One of them is that the military balance of power keeps changing on the frontlines day after day, in favour of the Russians and to the detriment of the Ukrainians. The other one is that Washington, the headquarters of western civilisation will also change, and this change will benefit the western world. We will have a more normal life than before, he stated.
“These two new developments warn us Hungarians to exercise caution. We believe that if changes of such magnitude are about to take place, we shouldn’t keep saying that regardless of these major changes, we will continue as before,” he said, adding that “not many, other than us, share this view in Brussels.” At the same time, European national leaders – evidently, also in response to pressure from their own electors – understand that the war must be brought to a conclusion and we must create a lasting and predictable security architecture which enables Europe to start on a path of economic growth again. The people have had enough of the war situation, they have had enough of inflation, the sanctions, the Prime Minister added.
By contrast, last week “the very opposite of all that” happened in the European Parliament and in the European Commission; the European Parliament’s largest parties concluded a pact, committing to writing that they will continue to do everything as before: they will continue to support migration, gender and the war. “Meaning that they don’t care how the world changes outside the Brussels bubble, they want to charge forward,” he said, stating that this shows that today the greatest problems are to be found in Brussels.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that during his talks in the United States, he received information to the effect that so far Europe and America combined had spent EUR 310 billion on the war. This is an enormous amount from which miracles could have been performed, he said. He mentioned as an example that from this money “at the stroke of a pen” countries of the Western Balkans could be helped to reach European living standards within a year or two or an improvement could have been achieved in the Sahel region issuing migrants which would keep migrants at home, rather than encouraging them to come to Europe. This money could also have been used for investments guaranteeing European security, arms factories or the European economy, he listed.
Mr Orbán said the EU pact lays down that Ukraine must be admitted as a Member State of the European Union very swiftly. All countries with a significant agricultural sector responded to this immediately and negatively, he stated, pointing out that if Ukraine is indeed swiftly admitted to the European Union without first settling the situation of those living off agriculture, then European farmers will be ruined, and then we, too, “will have to hold on tight” to save Hungarian agriculture and Hungarian families living off farming. Therefore, a hasty and swift process without adequate deliberation cannot be supported under any circumstances, the Prime Minister laid down.
He added that there were many states among the Patriots – through the representation of significant parties – which had a robust agricultural sector; the Italians, the French, the Austrians, the Hungarians or the Poles are all nations which are extremely sensitive to the issue of agriculture and the future of millions of families living off agriculture.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that there were global networks in the world which had major influence over the events of public life, politics and the economy in multiple countries at once. One such network is the Soros network which has lost one of its two headquarters, the one in America.
“The liberal life and world view embodied by the Soros Empire, the enormous network and world force” has now been pushed out of America, and it now only controls Brussels. However, Brussels is still in its hands, “that’s where it retreats to,” he pointed out. It is key to the future whether the Patriots in Brussels – who are now in opposition – will be able to obtain a majority, whether “we will be able to take Brussels back from George Soros,” the Prime Minister said.
In answer to the question of whether Europe has become stronger or weaker during the Hungarian presidency, the Prime Minister said “it’s still there.” Mr Orbán stressed that the Hungarian presidency had resolved a few problems which had previously remained unresolved for years or decades even, and this had earned Hungary undivided recognition. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen – who as he said he would not call a fan of Hungary – as well as the leaders of several countries who are not at all well-disposed to Hungary recognised, regardless of their feelings, the tremendous amount of work that the Hungarian party put into the presidency, he said.
Mr Orbán said the President of the Commission “affixed the seal of acknowledgement to the Hungarian presidency also publicly.” From among the results achieved, Mr Orbán mentioned that for years they had been unable to resolve the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area; this was finally achieved. The Romanians and the Bulgarians are in a shared ‘fate community’ with us. While our relations with Romania “are colourful and full of contradictions,” Hungary’s goal is to help, rather than hinder one another, the Prime Minister observed, adding that the Hungarian presidency managed to negotiate Romania’s Schengen membership.
In Mr Orbán’s opinion, a further great achievement is that each of the countries of the Western Balkans region – with special regard to Serbia, regarding which there had been no meaningful step from the viewpoint of accession to the EU for two and a half years – “has managed to take one, two or even three steps forward.” We have managed to unfreeze previously frozen relations, he said.
Mr Orbán took the view that European politics had moved closer to the real problems thanks to the Hungarian EU presidency, and the Hungarian presidency of six months had restored some faith in the significance of performance and hard work. If we want the European people to have a better life or to be able to protect their already achieved living standards, we must improve competitiveness, Mr Orbán stated, adding that they succeeded in making the 27 EU Member States reach an agreement on the most important issues regarding the path leading to this.
This means that we have an action plan for the restoration of competitiveness which everyone accepted as a result of our efforts. This is a common starting point, based on which we can start restoring competitiveness, the Prime Minister stated.
Mr Orbán said in modern times we are used to work being confined to speech and communication, and we speak less and less about performance and actual happenings. Brussels became detached from the reality that we live in. In Brussels, they use a language, a legal system and political forms with which it is very difficult to make an impact on reality, the Prime Minister concluded.
Regarding the 2025 Hungarian budget, he highlighted that the drafting of the budget had required much hard work, and additionally, next March, there would be a change of central bank governors. He said in the person of György Matolcsy, an “epoch-making economist” is leaving the post of governor who saved hundreds of thousands of families with foreign currency loans from bankruptcy and introduced a number of new instruments to Hungarian economic policy. Mr Orbán added that Mr Matolcsy would be replaced by incumbent finance minister Mihály Varga, and with the merger of the two ministries, a single ministry of economy will come into being under the leadership of Márton Nagy who is not a politician, but an economist, an economic expert, “a man of doing things” who accomplishes what he pledges to do. He mentioned as an example that Mr Nagy was the author of the new economic policy and the attached action plan.
What is the most important is that we should get off to a flying start, said the Prime Minister, stating that the actual task of next year’s budget is to ensure that already from January they can start implementing the measures which also allow families, employers, workers as well as small and medium-sized businesses to appreciate that the war is over and a peaceful period is about to start. The new Hungarian economic policy is adjusted to this, and its first signs are already knocking on the door, Mr Orbán said, adding that most measures will already become perceivable in the lives of families from the beginning of January.
