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Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building a puppet government with which they seek to change Hungary’s Ukraine policy after the next elections, Mr Orbán pointed out. He highlighted that for this they had found a candidate for prime minister, a party president, and most recently also a prospective defence minister.
“We should be in no doubt about what we’re up against, it’s a different political concept, a different strategy, a different future for Hungary.” If there is a pro-Brussels puppet government, it means that there is a pro-Ukraine government and a pro-war defence minister. Hungarian opposition parties are not even trying to hide this, both Tisza and DK (Democratic Coalition) are effectively openly pro-Ukraine political organisations, Mr Orbán stated.
In the context of the upcoming EU summit of prime ministers, the Prime Minister highlighted that Brussels was only concerned with Ukraine’s EU accession, this was the number one issue of international politics in Brussels, and this was happening not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow, but here and now.
He added that people in Brussels believed that the European Union was at war, Ukraine was Europe’s advance defence line, and “they’re waging our war.” This means that if there was no Ukrainian army, then – according to the Brusselites – Moscow would attack the European Union.
“But why should we fight against Russia in the territory of Ukraine?” the Prime Minister asked. There is a notion in Europe that the most important task of the next ten years is for us to somehow clash with the Russians. They believe that the Ukrainians are fighting for us, so in actual fact, a proxy war is being waged, Mr Orbán explained.
He pointed out that the Hungarian position was the complete opposite of this, holding that there should be a ceasefire within the shortest possible time, then peace, we should settle any outstanding territorial and other issues, we should agree with the Russians on economic issues, and we should return to the Russian markets. We should conclude a security deal with Russia as soon as possible because if things continue like this – as planned by Brussels – then we will spend all our money on an arms race.
It is necessary to reinforce European defence capabilities and to have a much more potent military force than at present, and Hungary, too, spends a lot of money on this, but it is not irrelevant whether we become entangled in an arms race or not, he said. There is one way to avoid an arms race: by conducting immediate arms control talks because otherwise all our money will be “devoured by the defence industry,” Mr Orbán stated.
He highlighted that the Hungarian people had an opinion about Ukraine’s EU accession which was now being vocalised. If there is no Vote2025 to support the government’s position, then it is very difficult for the Hungarian prime minister to stay on his feet in a Brussels windstorm, “it’s difficult without help from the people,” the Prime Minister added.
He also said “luckily, we’re not on our own anymore,” the Slovak Parliament decided the other day not to support any sanctions against Russia. The cooperation which seeks to stop the unreasonable Brussels policy is taking shape. According to surveys, people in eleven EU countries, including France and Germany, are opposed to Ukraine’s accelerated accession, and there are only ten countries in which people support it, Mr Orbán stressed.
Ukraine’s EU accession can be prevented if we take this debate on, if we bravely stand for our position, and if we do not allow Hungary to have a pro-Brussels and pro-Ukraine puppet government, the Prime Minister underlined. If Hungary takes this fight on, then we can defend ourselves which means that the people will get to keep what they have. Ukraine’s EU membership would mean that the people would lose a considerable part of what they have today. It would mean tax increases, lower pensions and the end of the reduction of household energy bills. Hungary and Hungarian families have much to lose, Mr Orbán stated.
Mr Orbán highlighted that in Brussels, more than 30,000 bureaucrats were scurrying, scampering, hiding, whispering, plotting in the background, and that was an enormous force. These bureaucrats are putting the Member States under enormous pressure, and are guiding them towards starting talks about Ukraine’s EU accession. It is difficult to resist this pressure, and most European governments are vulnerable.
The reason why Hungary stands so firmly on its feet is that the people created an extremely stable government in the 2022 elections which has a two-thirds majority and is under no pressure to form a coalition with anyone. In most European countries, there are coalitions, and so for them it is difficult to adopt a united stance. At this point in time, Hungary’s greatest competitive advantage in the international race is that it has “a stable, rock solid government with a large majority,” he said.
Regarding the affair of former chief of staff Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, he said the Defence Minister ordered an investigation, and they are currently awaiting the findings. He confirmed that Hungary firmly stood against Ukraine’s EU accession, and had therefore found itself in the crosshairs of international attacks. The forces that “seek to push Ukraine” into the European Union, together with the Ukrainians, are attacking Hungary.
Mr Orbán said this is a series of attacks jointly organised by Brussels and Ukraine, and pro-Ukraine and so pro-war forces have deeply infiltrated even the highest levels of the army. The former chief of staff’s affair is about the fact that instead of every little cog in the machinery of the Hungarian State representing the national interest, the notion somehow became embedded that rather than following the decision of the Hungarian government, you must go in the opposite direction, must stand for pro-Ukraine positions and must exert pressure on the Hungarian people in order for them to support Ukraine’s EU membership.
The Prime Minister said he is happy that the Hungarian army and Hungarian politics have a sufficient self-defence capability, and that they managed to uncover one of the most serious infiltrations of this kind perhaps in good time.
He said, at the same time, he is not happy about this debate as a whole because it is best to keep the defence forces as far away from politics as possible. However, it was not them who entangled the army in politics. A former chief of staff of the army embarked on a political career, and this is how the defence forces became entangled in politics, he said, adding that it would be best to put an end to this within the shortest possible time.
Mr Orbán described Karol Nawrocki’s victory in the Sunday elections in Poland as a fantastically positive result from a Hungarian point of view. In his view, with his victory, “the Patriots keep charging forward.” “I could even say that the Washington express arrived in Warsaw,” he observed.
Regarding the Parajd (Praid) salt mine, he said the government invited President of the Hargita County Council Barna Botond Bíró to its latest meeting, while he also had talks with President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania Hunor Kelemen, and so “the disaster that struck there unfolded before our eyes in its full extent.” At the same time, the full extent of the devastation caused cannot even be regarded as final yet because the entire mine system could collapse, he said.
Experts are facing an enormous challenge, they are required to somehow remove seven billion cubic metres of water with a high salt content from the mine. He indicated that the Hungarian government had also sent geologists to study and to help understand the situation, and to identify recommendations. The river bed is currently being rediverted. A strategy will first have to be developed for rescuing the mine, and once there is such a strategy, they will have a better understanding of how much this will cost and whether it is at all possible to save the mine. Hungary, together with the Romanian government, is ready to provide the help required, he stated.
Regarding the public service media’s fundraiser ‘We belong together – Combining forces for Szeklerland,’ he highlighted that the unity demonstrated in the event showed that we existed, we were alive. If there is trouble at a symbolic point of the world of the Hungarians – as Parajd is a symbolic, powerful point of self-expression for the world of the Hungarians – we must pull our instincts, our nerves together. This duly happened, and it opened not only people’s hearts, but also their wallets. He repeated that the government would double the HUF 160 million raised at the charity event. “The Hungarian government is contributing the exact same amount as the funds that were raised by members of the Hungarian public, and this is how we will send our donation to Parajd.”
Mr Orbán said it is unprecedented that at noon on Friday, upon the instruction of the Mayor of Budapest, as a warning to the government, public transport will stop in Budapest. He stressed that the starting point of politics was that it was the legal and moral duty of the leaders of a community to provide public services for the people, and therefore, “it is an unprecedented development in Hungarian politics” that someone, exercising the owner’s rights, decided to stop providing public services.
He observed that lawyers were already debating whether it was at all possible to do something like this or not. He added at the same time that he did not think it was a reasonable course of action, as “why should the people be punished for anything?”
He said for months he has observed with sadness the “helpless, desperate struggle,” the way in which the city leadership is unable to cope with the challenges of the day-to-day running of the capital. He took the view that the cause of all trouble and confusion should be fundamentally sought in leadership errors. In the capital, the mayor has no deputies, a budget was adopted which every lawyer said was unlawful, company executives have short-lived careers, there is corruption up to their ears, and the municipal meetings are more like rag fairs, the Prime Minister listed, concluding that the whole city “cries for leadership.”
“This city is stuffed full of money, this is Hungary’s richest city, except it has no leadership,” he concluded, adding that when expressed in forints, Budapest receives more from the country than the country receives from Budapest. He recalled that the government had most recently, two weeks previously, given Budapest HUF 40 billion for the procurement of new trams, and was additionally investing many billions of forints in the development of the Budapest economy, more than the capital itself which was “perhaps not even putting anything into it,” or only a negligible sum compared with the contribution of the cabinet.
He mentioned as an example the Chinese automotive company BYD which is relocating its development centre from the Netherlands to Budapest, but this required funding from the government. He said if necessary, the government will help, but the starting point of all further help is that they must not allow such a situation to arise again. “We must understand the situation, we must explore it precisely, and wherever there are problems, it is necessary to intervene,” he added.
Last week, the government voted for an allocation worth several billion forints for the continuation and broadening of the action taken against drugs, the Prime Minister stated. Mr Orbán said in Hungary “life in the countryside was calm and peaceful,” but a year ago “an infection spreading like wildfire reared its ugly head,” concocted designer drugs cheaper than alcohol emerged on the market, and so consumption, too, increased by magnitudes.
The Prime Minister described the distribution of designer drugs as “poisoning committed out of greed,” indicating that this new phenomenon affected most people in a vulnerable social position, destroyed needy families and consumed the future of children coming from poor families.
Regarding the results of the past three months, he said they appointed a government commissioner, the cabinet mobilised many billions of forints, they conducted a large number of raids, instituted 3,500 criminal procedures and seized more than half a tonne of drugs, HUF 250 million in cash and movable property worth many million forints. This quickly built network must be crushed, and the full force and all means of the state must be deployed against it, Mr Orbán stated, stressing that in this endeavour he is determined because “those who give our children drugs kill them in actual fact.”
