Show host of the interview programme 10 minuti (Ten Minutes) Nicola Porro first asked Mr Orbán about the issues there was agreement on as well as the issues there was no agreement on during his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Prime Minister stressed that there were differences, but he agreed with the Italian Prime Minister on a number of fundamental issues, including that “the Brussels power centre” was in need of reform.
“Brussels has actually failed on significant issues concerning the daily lives of the European people, including in the fields of economic policy, the green transition, the war and the sanctions,” Mr Orbán laid down. He also mentioned energy prices, which were key for Hungary, he added.
He said the Brussels bureaucrats made a serious mistake, including with the green transition which “keeps rowing against the flow of industry, instead of cooperating with it; this is harmful, we should stop this and reverse the direction.”
Regarding differences with Mrs Meloni, Mr Orbán recalled that Hungary bordered Ukraine, and therefore, its view on the war was different from that of Italy.
In answer to the question of why he regards the European Union as irrelevant, Mr Orbán said Europe was unable to prevent the war in Ukraine.
“It would have been the duty of European diplomacy to stop the war. Had Trump, not Biden, been the president of the United States, this war would never have happened, but regardless of the United States, Europe should have done more, but neither is it doing anything now,” Mr Orbán stated. He said it is a further problem that after the outbreak of the war, Europe sealed all diplomatic channels to Russia, and this way, it is impossible to stop the war, he pointed out.
“Brussels is becoming insignificant by deciding not to negotiate,” he stressed. He observed that as a result, the United States and Russia were negotiating not only about Ukraine, but also about the future of Europe’s defence architecture. Precisely the same way it happened after World War II when, rather than Europe, the United States and Russia decided on the future of the continent, he laid down.
At the same time, Mr Orbán said that at present, the two opposing parties are not enough for restoring peace, a third actor is also needed: the Europeans have withdrawn themselves from this process, and so Trump has remained the only actor, “the first US president who dedicates himself to peace, and we must therefore support him.”
Regarding the sanctions against Russia, Mr Orbán stressed that the decision on the sanctions lay with Italy, a country of sixty million, and other big countries like Germany and France, not with Hungary, a country of ten million.
“I’m concerned not about the sanctions imposed on Russia, but about the impact of the sanctions on the Hungarian people,” he pointed out. He explained that Hungary was a landlocked country, it had no access to the sea through which to receive liquefied natural gas. Therefore, without Russian imports, Hungarian homes cannot be heated and the Hungarian economy cannot function.
He stressed that Giorgia Meloni, too, represented the Italian national interests because Europe had no future without proud nation states.
Mr Orbán stated that the Europeans were much stronger than the Russians; the United Kingdom included, we have a population of four hundred and fifty million, in contrast to Russia with a population of around a hundred and forty million; both the European GDP and European defence expenditures exceed those of Russia.
“The question is that if we’re stronger, then what are we afraid of? The answer is that our leaders are poor: if you’re strong, but don’t want to go to war – as none of us want to go to war – then you can only use your superior strength in negotiations, but for some reason we’re not doing that,” he argued.
In answer to the last question concerning Ilaria Salis who was arrested in Hungary and was subsequently elected as a member of the European Parliament, Mr Orbán stressed that Hungary always welcomed Italians, except if they committed crimes.
