Listing the topics of the EU summit beginning later during the day, Mr Orbán stated “we will have a very difficult day, there are three battles” on the agenda.
From among these, he first mentioned the war in Ukraine. He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was going to present his victory plan. While “we are not yet acquainted with the details officially, we heard what he said yesterday in the Ukrainian Parliament. It was more than terrifying,” he said.
He stressed that he was the only one to urge the European Union from time to time to change its present war strategy because, he pointed out, “we are losing this war right now.” The European Union entered this war with a badly planned and badly executed strategy which was based on flawed calculations, and the responsibility for this lies with the President of the Commission in the first place because she was the flagbearer, he stated.
This is not working, the Prime Minister pointed out, drawing attention to the fact that on the frontline “we are quite evidently losing.” Meaning that we must change, he stressed. “I wasn’t thinking of even more war, of even more dangerous weapons and long-range armaments, but rather that instead of a war strategy, we should switch to a strategy of peace. Ceasefire, peace talks,” he said.
The address delivered by the Ukrainian President in the Ukrainian Parliament on Wednesday points in the very opposite direction, Mr Orbán said, stating that therefore he urges German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron to start negotiations with Russia on behalf of the entire European Union within the shortest possible time “in order to find a way out of this situation.”
He highlighted that the “migration battle” too, was going to be significant because, he said, “several of us want to change the migration rules.” It is unacceptable that Hungary is being punished for protecting the EU’s borders, he stated. Ever more countries acknowledge that there is a migration crisis, and there is a need for change, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister said during “the afternoon battle” at the EU summit, the EU will seek the adoption of economic measures which would, in his words, “floor Hungarian families.” Tax increases, abolition of the reduction of household utility charges, transformation of the pension system, cancellation of the 13th monthly pension, he listed.
“I must reject this, and defend the most important elements of the current economic policy which seek to protect families,” he said.
According to his information, while the Thursday morning consultation of the Patriots is conducted in the spirit of preparing for the EU summit, it also seeks to focus on organising the party family.
“We had our baptism of fire” in the form of the presentation of the programme of the Hungarian EU presidency in the European Parliament, he said. It was revealed that the group of the Patriots worked very effectively, the Prime Minister pointed out, highlighting that “we stood up for each other, they helped me to defend Hungary.”
The Patriots have a plan about how they want to grow; this is what the Thursday meeting is about, Mr Orbán added.