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Reacting to an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was released on Tuesday, Mr Orbán stressed that the Ukrainians were not prepared to accept that in Hungary the Hungarian people should make a decision on Ukraine’s EU accession, and were most definitely not willing to accept a negative decision. Therefore, they keep threatening, blackmailing and attacking us.
We must reject this, he stated, adding that the Ukrainians should be grateful to Hungary.
“We allowed their refugees to leave through Hungary. We allowed them to use all public services in Hungary, we provided care for them, we treated their soldiers, we teach their children,” the Prime Minister listed.
We suggest to the Ukrainian President that instead of threats and blackmail, he should thank the Hungarian people and express his respect to Hungary, he observed.
Regarding Georgia, Mr Orbán said “everyone envies them, including us,” a 7 per cent economic growth, a decreasing sovereign debt, a deficit kept under control, and prospects are just as good for next year.
“They have a headwind, too, the same as us Hungarians as the Prime Minister won an election not long ago the way we won in 2022,” he said, drawing a parallel.
The Prime Minister highlighted that their government, too, was under attack from Brussels because they were on the side of peace. They do not want to become involved in a war, stand up for their sovereignty and proudly say that their own country comes first for them.
“We have that part, too, except we don’t have the 7 per cent economic growth just yet, but I sincerely hope that we’ll have that, too,” he observed.
Mr Orbán stressed that Hungary stood up for Georgia’s sovereignty not only in bilateral relations, but also on the European scene. We sympathise with their situation, and regard our guests of today as genuine patriotic heroes, with the Prime Minister at their head, he said.
He also said, completely regardless of Brussels’ opinion, they agreed that Hungary would give Georgia all assistance on the path leading to the EU.
From September, Hungary will train 50 Georgian civil servants, and we will also send government experts to Georgia, he announced.
Regarding Hungarian-Georgian economic cooperation, he recalled that Wizz Air was a market leader in Georgia, while the volume of Hungarian-Georgian trade had broken all previous records. This was the first time we succeeded in going above USD 100 million, and pharmaceutical products constituted the bulk of the Hungarian exports to Georgia.
In the working committees, the parties also spoke about energy cooperation on Wednesday. A joint energy programme with the participation of five countries aims to bring green electricity generated in Caucasia to Hungary and the territory of the EU, the Prime Minister highlighted.
He pointed out that we had especially good reason to keep energy cooperation on the agenda. In contrast to the Ukrainians who are closing down energy transport routes, we are building pipelines and relations, and are giving the green light to economic activity, he stressed.
He also said that he agreed with Mr Kobakhidze to continue cooperation, and to hold a third Hungarian-Georgian government summit within a year.
In answer to a question, Mr Orbán said in connection with the Zelenskyy interview that it is shocking when any country threatens another, and if we are that other country, then it is especially unacceptable.
He added that this was a crucial issue for Hungary: what the Ukrainians are doing to us, especially on the front of energy, goes against the day-to-day economic interests of ten million Hungarians. They come up with demands against Hungary in Brussels, as a result of which the price of household gas could minimum double, but could easily increase four-fold, he warned.
The Prime Minister said the Ukrainian president talks about wanting to take money out of the Hungarian people’s pockets so that they can wage their war more successfully. However, we cannot say yes to this, he said, adding that we will not destroy Hungarian households just so that the Ukrainians can achieve the goals they set for themselves in the war.
According to his expectation, next week will be a difficult one not simply because we have a dispute with Ukraine; Brussels, too, stands for the Ukrainian position.
At Ukraine’s request, Brussels is tabling proposals which would cut Hungary off Russian energy and would thereby at least double the energy costs of households. “This is unacceptable. My job is to prevent this,” Mr Orbán stated.
He added that also in ten months’ time his job was going to be to prevent pro-Ukraine parties from going anywhere near the steering wheel in Hungary.
“We will do that job, too, but first let’s focus on next week’s battle,” the Prime Minister indicated.
In answer to another question from a journalist, he also said that in Georgia foreign forces are engaged in subversive activities which are very similar to what is happening in Hungary. Fake civil-society organisations financed by George Soros operate in Georgia in the dozen, doing everything they can to topple the government. What is happening there is almost exactly the same as what is happening here, he stated.
He said at the same time that the globalists are losing; they lost in the United States, and globalist governments will fall in Europe, too, in the next two years. At that point, the great day for Georgia will finally arrive because the doors of EU accession will open before them, Mr Orbán said in summary.
Before the press conference, the two prime ministers issued a joint declaration, while members of the two governments signed multiple cooperation agreements.
