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At a press conference held jointly with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa, on behalf of the rotating Hungarian EU presidency Mr Orbán said the war in Ukraine is the most important political issue, but in this he had effectively no scope for manoeuvre because there is no consensus within the European Union, and if there is no consensus, you cannot proceed on behalf of the European Council. “Therefore, everything that could be done with regard to the issue of the war had to be done not as part of, but independently of the presidency. Let’s put it this way, within the boundaries of bilateral diplomacy,” he stated. He indicated that they had done a great many things; also now, there was a Christmas ceasefire proposal which had been tabled not as part of the presidency.
In answer to a question, he said everyone would like lasting peace and thinks in terms of an overarching geopolitical context. However, Hungary has its limits, “it is the size it is,” and so its international impact, too, can only be as significant as is in harmony with its own significance. Therefore, he said in continuation, in the latest initiative, rather than identifying overarching geopolitical, peace settlement goals – because, in his view, “that’s a job for the big boys” – they identified lesser goals.
He stressed that he saw no obstacle to the killing being stopped on the frontline for at least two or three days during the Orthodox Christmas and to the parties reaching an agreement on the release of 700 prisoners of war on each side. This may pale in comparison with geopolitical goals, but if a few thousand fewer people die at Christmas and a few hundred or thousand fathers may go home to their families, that is a European value, he stressed.
In answer to another question, he said in the past three years he has had the impression that there is no solution to the war on the battlefield. “I have seen feisty statements, military manoeuvres, new weapons, hundreds of thousands people dead, hundreds of thousands of people disabled, God only knows how many hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans,” he said. In his view, it is time for diplomacy to take control back from the generals, or else the war will not come to an end within a foreseeable time, there will only be further and further losses.
In answer to the question of how Donald Trump as US president will conclude the Russo-Ukrainian war within 24 hours, Mr Orbán pointed out that he had no authorisation to talk about the intentions of other leaders. He recalled that in the past two weeks he had met with Donald Trump, had had a very long conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and had also met with the President of Turkey. He stressed, however, that while “there is something in everyone’s head,” he can only talk about his own intentions.
Evaluating the Hungarian EU presidency ending on 31 December, the Prime Minister thanked Ursula von der Leyen and the Commission for the excellent cooperation, stressing that they managed to put all political disputes to one side in order to make progress on important issues. He also thanked António Costa and his predecessor Charles Michel who have likewise been instrumental in the attainment of the presidency’s results.
Mr Orbán said unprecedented security challenges have emerged in the past six months: there are wars under way in Ukraine, in the Middle East and in Africa, and there is a constant threat of escalation. Illegal migration and its consequences threaten to paralyse and tear apart the Schengen Area, while economic figures show that the European Union is losing its global competitiveness and we are falling behind our main economic rivals, he added.
In his view, meanwhile the other global actors have ambitious plans, “there are some who want to remain big, while there are others who want to become big again.” He said therefore they decided that Hungary should lead a political, rather than a bureaucratic presidency. He indicated that they had invested an enormous amount of work in the past six months, the best of the entire Hungarian state apparatus had made every effort to achieve progress.
Regarding the issue of competitiveness, he stressed that the Budapest Declaration deserved historic attention, with regard to the fact that it calls upon the Member States to implement a simplification revolution, envisages affordable energy and the promotion of small and medium-sized businesses, and assigns deadlines to the tasks in hand. Mr Orbán highlighted as an important point of the Hungarian presidency that ministers responsible for demographic challenges had met for the first time in the history of the EU to discuss Europe’s demographic future.
He also said they have made progress in enlargement policy, on issues that had long been blocked in relation to the Western Balkans: they started negotiations with Albania, held three intergovernmental conferences, and the organisation of an intergovernmental conference with Serbia, too, is now well within reach.
Mr Orbán highlighted that the decision on the admission of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area had been finally adopted during the Hungarian EU presidency. This issue was on the agenda for ten to thirteen years, and no decision could be reached due to the resistance of one country or another or the combined resistance of multiple countries, he recalled.
He added, however, that Hungary had engaged in talks for six months with countries that had previously opposed the enlargement, and as a result, enlargement would take place effective from 1 January. He also recalled that it had been during the Hungarian presidency that the 27 agricultural ministers had first succeeded in agreeing on the future of the common agricultural policy. The presidency has further succeeded in bringing about a declaration on the promotion of Jewish life and the fight against anti-Semitism. This declaration highlights that the level of anti-Semitism is alarmingly high in the European Union, and it is our joint responsibility to do everything we can to reduce it, he stated.
“In the past six months, I have been confirmed in the opinion that the only way for the European Union to succeed, to survive at all is by making itself ambitious, by wanting to be great, by aspiring to great things,” the Hungarian Prime Minister stated in summary, wishing the next presidency that they should be able to make important and great decisions. What we chose as the motto of our presidency was not a joke, that we ourselves should become great again, meaning that we should make Europe, too, great again. This is the only way for competitiveness and survival, Mr Orbán said.
In answer to a question relating to transatlantic cooperation, the Hungarian Prime Minister said there was full agreement at the EU summit that the future and security of Europe strongly depend on whether they will be able to maintain transatlantic cooperation. In connection with the entry into office of the new US president on 20 January, he called for strategic patience and calm on the part of the EU, suggesting that they should not do anything that could hamper future strategic cooperation within the system of transatlantic relations.
