He added: We will break this oil blockade, we do not accept what Zelenskyy demands, but reject it. We will win this “battle,” the Prime Minister stated.
He observed that he had learnt “once they blackmail you, they will always blackmail you, and if you don’t put your foot down at the very beginning, it will be too late the second or third time.” Therefore, we must clearly state right at the very beginning that Hungary cannot be blackmailed, Hungary cannot be destroyed, the Prime Minister stressed.
Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that on Saturday at the Százhalombatta refinery he learnt that while the Ukrainians had been “leading us on for weeks,” it transpired that they had absolutely no intention of resuming the operation of the Druzhba crude oil pipeline. He stressed that as far as they knew, there was no technical obstacle of any kind to the shipment of oil to Hungary via this pipeline, something else was in the background.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that the Százhalombatta refinery could not refine just any oil, it could only process certain types. If we did not know the Ukrainians, “including the president who is no exception,” and had we not prepared for this eventuality, had we not accumulated our reserves to the maximum, we would be in great trouble, the price of petrol could go above a thousand forints, he said.
At the beginning of his speech, Mr Orbán reminded his audience that since 2010, the government parties had won in all constituencies in Komárom-Esztergom County, and therefore, the goal here was not a two-thirds, but a three-thirds victory. He recalled at the same time that in the five elections held between 1990 and 2010, there had been two right-wing and three left-wing victories, meaning that this was “a constant battlefield” which they “would do well to bear in mind, […] things like this don’t just pass swiftly.”
He said while “there is ongoing psychological warfare” and “they want us to believe that this election has already been decided,” it is well worth reminding the opponents and the hired analysts working for them that “they shouldn’t go above a hundred per cent” because “that’s illegal.” He highlighted that according to their polls in the county, János Bencsik was leading by 6 per cent, Mrs Czunyi, Judit Bertalan by 8 percent, while Gábor Erős “by only a little,” in his case, the advantage of a nose must be turned into a landslide one. Everyone should do the job they agreed to do, and then “we’ll defeat them comprehensively,” Mr Orbán said encouraging his audience.
He stressed: in Csongrád, he checked the status of signature collection, and what he saw was that despite the contrary impression suggested by the media, “we have many, they have few;” as a local activist said regarding the opposition, “they’re all appearances, while we’re the real thing.”
Mr Orbán said the opposition is attacking, assaulting, intimidating those who disagree with them, and we must defend ourselves against this, indicating that “at present, we have 230,000 digital warriors in order of battle who are prepared to take on the fight anywhere, anytime.”
In the past ten years, the industrial performance of Komárom-Esztergom County has tripled, unemployment has fallen from 4.8 per cent to just 2.5 per cent; those who want to work can do so, Mr Orbán laid down. The Prime Minister highlighted that the government was building industrial centres in groups of three which meant that they had turned Komárom-Esztergom County into a single industrial zone together with Fejér and Győr-Moson-Sopron Counties; this county produced the third highest industrial value in the country.
They have brought as many as 146 major investments to the county, for the purposes of which the government has provided grants worth HUF 160 billion, he indicated, adding that they have created 13,500 jobs, and protected 24,000 during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Mr Orbán, there is an illusion, especially in left-wing, liberal circles, that the manufacturing industry and workers are a thing of the past, but “there is no economy without industry, without workers, without skilled workers” who carry the national economy on their backs with their hard work. He said industry has a future, and young people are right if they want to become good skilled workers in the largest possible numbers.
The Prime Minister said they have developed the Esztergom-Budapest railway line from an allocation of eighty billion forints, they built the Monostor Danube bridge by 2020, while as part of the Hungarian Villages Programme, settlements in the Esztergom district have received HUF 3.3 billion.
The Prime Minister announced that they would build a twenty-kilometre-long section of the M100 in the next two and a half years and would connect it with the M1. From an allocation worth HUF 1 billion, they will refurbish the city’s state-maintained roads, and “we shook hands with the mayor on building” the new Esztergom Danube bridge, he listed. He highlighted that they had completed the first phase of the barrier system from an allocation of HUF 14 billion, while phase two would start in the spring, and a new Little Danube promenade would be built as well.
Mr Orbán said when there is the constant threat of the price of energy rising everywhere in the world, the measure that Hungary has been barred from cheap oil is a double sin and a double threat. The Prime Minister stressed that on Saturday morning he had started his day in Százhalombatta because during this week they had ordered the reinforced military protection of the key facilities of the energy infrastructure.
He said on the way to Esztergom he received the first analyses about the aerial strikes on Iran. The Prime Minister pointed out that Iran was one of the world’s largest oil producers, and was responsible for 15 per cent of China’s oil supply. At the same time, there is a strait there via which the oil of multiple Arab countries is transported to the world market in tankers, and this strait can be closed down, he said, adding that this conveys the threat of a significant rise in the world market price of energy. He announced that on Saturday they would assess the precise extent of the threat involved.
The Ukrainians decided to detach Hungary from cheap Russian energy, the Prime Minister stated, adding that they already shut gas off earlier, but thanks to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, they managed to take care of that problem by bringing gas to Hungary from the South.
Mr Orbán stressed later on that Mol offered a considerable percentage of the money they made on oil to the fund for the reduction of household energy bills, and so this partially covered the funds necessary for the reduction of household energy bills. If oil supply stops, there will not be enough money for the reduction of household energy bills, Mr Orbán pointed out.
What Volodymyr Zelenskyy did, he did it not against Hungarian industry or Mol, but all Hungarian people, he stated. He said on Friday he spoke to the Slovak prime minister because Slovakia’s supply is connected to the Hungarian, and Zelenskyy’s oil blockade also affects them. It was following this that Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskyy and explained to him that with this he was destroying Slovakia and Hungary, and asked him to reopen the pipeline, to which the Ukrainian president said no.
The Slovak prime minister proposed, as previously agreed, that they send a Slovak-Hungarian-EU-Ukrainian investigation committee to the site, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy firmly rejected this proposal, Mr Orbán laid down. Mr Orbán said we are being blackmailed. The first option is that we acknowledge Zelenskyy’s demands, detach ourselves from cheap oil and buy oil at a much higher price level after some solution is found. There are some who stand for this position in Hungary, this is the position of the Tisza Party, he pointed out. In their opinion, we should accept Zelenskyy’s demands as it is the very heart of their energy programme that Hungary must be detached from Russian oil.
This is happening now, “the Ukrainians are manufacturing their programme,” he added. If you have a government which accepts the enemy’s demands right at the beginning and surrenders, rather than engaging in battle, they will never win; first, they will lose, then we all will. So, the first and most important thing is that we want to win this battle, Mr Orbán stressed.
The Prime Minister said first, we stopped all diesel shipments to Ukraine; the second option which we have not yet resorted to is that we also stop electricity supply from Hungary to Ukraine. The Slovaks and Hungarians account for 40 per cent of Ukraine’s power imports, he explained, adding that the reason why we have not immediately resorted to this measure is that there are Hungarians also on the other side of the border, and we will only do so at the very end if necessary, not now, at the beginning.
Following this, he announced that Hungary was blocking the EUR 90 billion loan for Ukraine, and that we were likewise not prepared to consent to sanctions package number twenty against Russia currently under adoption. They also announced in Brussels that Hungary would not approve any decision serving Ukrainian interests that required unanimity until oil shipments were resumed, he confirmed.
The Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that the reduction of household energy bills should not be taken for granted; the various elements of the country’s economic policy, from taxation to energy policy, must be put together in such a way that they should eventually result in a reduction of household energy bills. We Hungarians pay HUF 250,000 annually on average for household energy, while the Poles pay HUF 900,000, the Czechs a million, he said. If the reduction of household energy bills were taken away, it would be like a monthly average income being taken away, Mr Orbán pointed out.
Therefore, it is not irrelevant whether we will have a government that surrenders to the Ukrainian blackmail and demands, or a government which will fight for cheaper petrol and will fight for the reduction of household energy bills, he observed.
He also said if Mol is unable to import cheap Russian oil, they will have to buy oil from somewhere else, from Shell, for instance, “which has pocketed the largest profits during the war.” If anyone profited from the war, it was large western energy companies, with Shell in the vanguard. “They’re the dogs of the war. The profited from other people’s suffering,” he said, adding that when cheap oil is cut off and they bring more expensive oil in, they will profit from that, those who work there, those who were sent here from there and those who have shares in the company. That is the reality on the ground here. In the end, it all comes down to money, the Prime Minister stated.
In answer to the question of whether crude oil shipments will resume on the Druzhba pipeline before 12 April, Mr Orbán said they should bet on the option that there will only be a chance of this happening after the elections. The underlying motivation is that they want a change of governments in Hungary, he said, explaining that there are signs which indicate that Brussels and Kiev concluded a deal, and they both want a pro-Ukraine government. This is so, he added, because Hungary, the Hungarian government is “a major obstacle for pro-war European leaders,” given that “we’re the only ones who refuse to give weapons and money, and we will never give them soldiers either,” while “they provide money, provide weapons, and have already signed an agreement on also providing soldiers,” he underlined.
According to the Prime Minister, the main problem of European leaders is that “they’re pursuing a policy which has no popular support, the people are not behind it,” and therefore, Hungary is dangerous for them. Through Hungary’s example, the European people see that “you can think differently,” it is possible to adopt a different approach to the problem and to act differently, he said.
He took the view that from the EU’s point of view, Hungary is dangerous not because of its size, but because of the example it is setting, given that Hungary demonstrates that “it can also be done like this.” “The people will ask the question sooner or later ‘Why aren’t you doing what the Hungarians are doing?’ as they did on the issue of migration, too,” he recalled.
He said “they want to move this dangerous precedent out of the way, they want to move Hungary out of the way,” and “Brussels, Kiev and Tisza agreed to implement this plan together.” The only means by which to achieve this, in their opinion, is “to cause economic chaos in Hungary,” Mr Orbán pointed out.
The Prime Minister said by creating economic chaos, the country’s opponents would like to achieve a rise in fuel prices and a rise in inflation, and for the people to blame the government for this. Meaning that behind the blackmail, there is, in actual fact, a carefully thought-out intention to remove the patriotic Hungarian government from power, he laid down. Therefore, “here on 12 April, we will have to fight a battle in which we will have to defeat Tisza, Zelenskyy and Ursula von der Leyen all at once,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
Mr Orbán said “the battle against the Ukrainians will be a tough one” as “they’re capable of anything,” for instance, in 2022 “they blew up the Germans’ gas pipeline.” Additionally, “Ukraine has thoroughly infiltrated European politics.” He highlighted that rejecting Zelenskyy’s demands, resisting blackmail and breaking the oil blockade were formidable tasks which “require national unity” as “we won also the debate on migration […] because the Hungarian nation was united; that’s the key to everything,” he underlined.
Brussels and Berlin destroyed the V4, but next year, after the elections in Poland, cooperation could be restored, Mr Orbán stated, highlighting that their problem was that this country group of 75 million with identical interests on a number of issues gained in strength so much that eventually the French president and the German chancellor had to agree with them on issues in dispute. These four countries together constitute an unavoidable factor in European politics, he pointed out, adding that without these states there is neither German nor European economy.
Mr Orbán said the Slovak and Czech prime ministers “toppled by Brussels and Berlin” earlier have returned to office, after the 2027 elections in Poland, the V4 will get back together again, and then “we will again win every battle.”
He said those who follow the Western European press can see that while we are together with the Slovaks and the Czechs on a great many issues, they are still reporting on an isolated Hungary because they refuse to accept that there are regional interests on these matters, “rather than the whim of a disobedient Hungarian state of ten million.”
He stressed that you could topple a government from Brussels, but you could not govern from Brussels. He mentioned that earlier “Brussels” leaders had been installed at the heads of the governments of the other three states. “Now, they think the job should be completed, the patriotic government must be toppled in Hungary and replaced with Tisza; that’s what they’re doing.”
We need not just a Ukrainian-Russian peace deal, but also a new European security architecture to replace the one that collapsed, Mr Orbán laid down. The Prime Minister highlighted that a balance of power providing security also in the long run must be a part of the new system, including an arms control agreement because this is the only way to keep the funds spent on armies within reasonable boundaries. He added that increasing military expenditures would take money away from areas such as health care or the development of the economy.
We must keep up not with America, but with our neighbours because the devil never sleeps. Therefore, in the interest of the country’s security we must be continuously at the same weaponry level as the countries surrounding us, he stated. Regarding the ever wider use of drones for military purposes, he said we must prepare for the eventuality that in a Ukrainian-Hungarian conflict “such drones may appear in the territory of Hungary.” Concerning the installation of anti-drone systems in Hungary, he said “we have this capability, and we must develop this capability of ours.”
The Ukrainians cannot treat Hungary the way Volodymyr Zelenskyy treats us, the tone he uses with us, Mr Orbán laid down. You cannot speak to us like this, and anyone who tries “will find themselves at the receiving end; those who bite into us will break their teeth,” he pointed out. This is not a personal matter, but a matter of national self-esteem, he stated.
He stressed that in the summer of 2024 when Hungary held the EU presidency, as part of a peace mission, he travelled to Kiev where he spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskyy at length and presented a proposal, asking the Ukrainian president to grab the opportunity offered. Mr Orbán said he offered to implement his plan together with him because he had the impression that the Ukrainians were losing, time was working against them, their situation was getting worse, while the Russians had more weapons and soldiers that would last them longer.
He added that at the time he also told him that Donald Trump would win and quit the war, and only the Europeans would remain behind Ukraine; however, Europe would only be able to finance the war for a few years because there was no money. In this context, the Prime Minister observed that the Ukrainian state itself was financed from Brussels; Ukrainian pensions, health care and schools, too, are financed by the European people. In his words, in 2024, he told the Ukrainian president that he had some ideas about how this matter could be “guided in the direction of peace.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reply was that what Mr Orbán said was wrong because they were winning, time was on their side, “we’ll see what the US president will do,” while supporting Ukraine did not cost the Europeans that much money. “I asked for a coffee and said, should he nonetheless require my assistance at any time in the future, I’ll be at his disposal because I had the feeling that we had exhausted the opportunities offered by that day,” he said.
Mr Orbán took the view that if he were to sit down with Volodymyr Zelenskyy again and asked him to talk about peace, “I’m afraid he would say the same.” That they are winning, that time is on their side, the Americans may not give them money directly, but there, too, there will be mid-term elections, Europe is doing fine, while they’re paying in blood, meaning that it is a win-win situation for all. “They receive money for their heroism, while we give them money in order for them to fight against the Russians,” he said.
The Prime Minister added that as he would again say no to this and there was no point in continuing this debate, Volodymyr Zelenskyy shut down the oil pipeline. In order to move the patriotic government out of the way and “to install a pro-Ukraine Tisza government” in Hungary where Brussels and Kiev will together applaud pro-Ukraine political speeches praising European values, Mr Orbán stated.
They would like to see reports from the Hungarian parliament where the prime minister stands up and says that an era has come to an end, and from now on we will support Ukraine, Ukraine is our friend, we will provide weapons, we will provide money, we will vote for everything Brussels asks for, and together we will defeat the Russians. This is the prime ministerial speech they are waiting for in Brussels, but “they won’t get a speech like that from me as long as I live,” he laid down.
He added: he is trying to help young people to realise that family is the most important. “All I can say to all young people is that they should look for a partner, start a family and love their country, and then everything will be alright,” the Prime Minister said.
He also spoke about the fact that at the end of March, the US President will go to China “and there, great things will happen,” major progress will be made in the interest of the stabilisation of the situation in the world.
He indicated that the situation in the Russo-Ukrainian war was bad, and was going to get worse and worse. “Never before have we been so close to a direct military conflict as we are now,” he stated. The Prime Minister observed that the Americans had “quit” providing military support for Ukraine, and were also going to withdraw from the ongoing diplomatic efforts. However, it is a bigger problem that the EU is going in, rather than coming out. EU leaders are holding not summits of prime ministers, but “war councils,” he said, adding that “all they talk about there is that this is our war.”
They seriously believe that they want to defeat Russia in the territory of Ukraine, he pointed out, and as Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal in the whole world, he sees this as extremely irresponsible, “tempting providence” even.
He also spoke about the fact that the large states of the EU signed an agreement on sending troops to Ukraine, and what is the worst news is that they are pushing Ukraine into the EU. “We are not talking about intentions, but documents, it’s committed to writing that Ukraine must be admitted to the European Union by 2027,” he recalled.
Mr Orbán said he is certain that when the Ukrainians turned off the oil pipeline, they knew that we would adopt counter-measures. They knew precisely that neither would we consent to their financial support and this would cause a temporary disruption. However, Brussels promised them to circumvent this, and to ensure that this money should find its way there by April, “while in April, after the elections in Hungary, a new world will set in.”
They tabled an item for the agenda of a meeting scheduled for 15 April, three days after the elections in Hungary, about definitive detachment from Russian oil. This clearly shows what they are preparing for, he observed.
This is the last election before a possible European war, the Prime Minister stated. Mr Orbán said the government that we will now elect will decide on the issue of war and peace between 2026 and 2030. Therefore, we must elect a government which will not take us into the war, will not sell Hungary “for a mess of pottage, three slaps on the back in Brussels salons and two good selfies,” but will stand up for Hungarian workers and will stand with the Hungarian people, the Prime Minister stressed.
Mr Orbán added that history was there to learn from because the Hungarians had tried to stay out of major European wars twice before, but had failed. “We must accomplish something, for which the heart is not enough, we also need brains, we need means, a strategy and courage, and we must achieve something – should this war break out, the chances of which are, regrettably, very high – that people more talented than ourselves had failed to achieve the previous two times.” Among the reasons, he mentioned the enormous international pressure and that they were unable to gather allies for staying out.
“I’m working on this, you can see, in every part of the world, including Moscow, China and the V4 states in Europe,” Mr Orbán stressed.
The second reason was that the country did not stand up in unity for staying out. There were political debates in Hungary at a time when the most difficult decisions had to be made “such as the ones we now have between Tisza and ourselves, or worse still,” he pointed out. Mr Orbán therefore stated that on 12 April we needed not just an election victory, but a “deep, a spiritually robust” landslide victory so that we could swiftly restore national unity afterwards and the whole country could be lined up behind the goal of staying out of the war. This is the task we are facing, the Prime Minister said in conclusion.
