Viktor Orbán: New Blikk. I’m making my debut on Blikk too. I’ve made my debut with Ildikó [Csuhaj], and now here too.
Ákos Bittó: Prime Minister, Donald Trump often refers to you as his friend. I can’t decide whether this is political rhetoric on his part or whether he really means it; but do you remember the first time he called you his friend, and do you remember the context in which it came up and why?
I’m so old that I can’t even remember when I first called my wife “My Love”, let alone strangers when it comes to such matters. But I’d describe our relationship as that of brothers in arms. It’s more than that, and less than that: it’s a brotherhood in arms in the sense that, of course, everyone’s in their own place and in their own environment, but they’re fighting for things they consider to be the same and important. And since there are very few people in the Western world who consider these things important, there are very few of us in this circle. There was a time when it was just the two of us – if that doesn’t sound immodest, because the difference in size is obvious. But that’s why it’s a deep relationship, I’d say. We know each other’s families to some extent; but, you know, in Hungarian friendship means that you have a deep, personal relationship, so I wouldn’t say that this is the case. But there’s a shared understanding of ideas, goals and issues, and the conviction that we both know that the other will stick to these goals to their last drop of blood. We can be sure of this, and this is what I call brotherhood in arms.
The reason you’re going there now is essentially to ask for something, to ask for exemption from the embargo and sanctions…
We’re going because for a long time we haven’t seen…
And because you haven’t seen your friend in a long time…
In the White House, I mean. Because we last met in the White House in 2019. And after that we had four meetings, but those were in Mar-a-Lago and New Jersey. So not since he returned, which was one of the biggest events in Western political history, something that hasn’t happened in living memory; its significance is enormous, and that’s why the first ten months of the current administration are different from the previous four years, the previous cycle. If you compare the two, you can see the difference. So his return is of enormous significance for the entire Western world. And since that happened, we’ve only spoken on the phone and met in bilateral talks, most recently in Sharm el-Sheikh; but we haven’t held any bilateral US–Hungarian talks in person since his return. So that’s why we’re going, really. We have great ambitions, and we trust that he does too. So we want something big, we want to do big things together. Some of these are international, some are bilateral. We’ll see. I’m very optimistic.
Are you taking him any gifts? Is that customary on such occasions?
Of course, all sorts of things. The Hungarian national character is very interesting when it comes to gift-giving. For example, when I was last with the Holy Father, a tailor who makes liturgical vestments made a vestment bearing a Kalocsa pattern and insisted that I give it to the Holy Father. And now I’ve received all kinds of things from people I don’t know, with letters saying, “Be sure to give this to the President.” So Hungarians somehow imagine that it’s natural for the Hungarian prime minister to bring something from the Hungarian people when he goes to America – not a protocol gift, but a token of kind wishes. It’s a nice little collection that the Hungarian people have now thrown into the pot. My favourite is a knife. Giving a knife as a gift isn’t allowed, of course, it’s a difficult matter, but from a master craftsman I’ve also received a knife with a Damascus blade, shaped like an American eagle’s head and of a very special design, to be given to the President, in case he doesn’t have one.
Thank you very much.
