In his regular Friday morning interview with Hungarian public television, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that he had held successful talks at the European Union summit in Brussels the previous day, and Hungary maintained its position that it would not send weapons to Ukraine.
On 2 February, Orbán told public Kossuth radio that Hungary only consented to financial contributions allocated towards efforts to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian state. He said peace was the crucial issue as regards the war between Russia and Ukraine but ‘the situation is not good in this respect, since Brussels suffers from war fever’ and European leaders argued along the logic of war at the summit on Thursday. Brussels should focus all its efforts on peace and aim towards achieving a ceasefire as soon as possible to be followed by peace talks, he opined. Orbán stressed that the 50 billion euros approved for Ukraine
would not pay for weapons but for the running of the Ukrainian state.
The prime minister also underscored that he had successfully prevented the diversion of the EU money due to Hungary to Ukraine.
He continued by saying that the Hungarian left wing ‘is pro-war’, and they ‘always want to agree with Brussels’ on how Hungary should participate in the war. ‘I always strive to come to an agreement with Brussels on how this should not happen,’ the prime minister said. Orbán said the voice of those fostering stronger relations with the United States was getting stronger in the European Union. The viewpoints of Brussels and America, he added, had got mixed up. Decisions in Brussels, he said, ‘often follow American interests rather than European ones’. ‘One thing’s certain: there will only be peace when things change in Brussels,’ the Prime Minister said. In December, they ‘fought for the monies due to Hungary’, Orbán said, adding that Hungary had now ‘received a guarantee’ that disbursements would not stop and the funds would not be sent to Ukraine.
It is unfair on European farmers that ‘Brussels has introduced regulations that make production increasingly expensive while allowing the import of produce from countries where EU rules do not apply,’ Orbán said. Orbán observed that Ukrainian agricultural products should not be allowed to enter the European market under current conditions, ‘though it would be best not to allow them in at all’. The Prime Minister said there had been a strenuous debate about this issue at the EU leaders’ summit, and several leaders had called on the European Commission to stop Ukrainian agricultural imports.
He also recalled that he had met farmers demonstrating in Brussels, and
they asked the Poles, the Slovaks, and Hungarians to block Ukrainian shipments at their borders.
‘It’s not without reason there is a sense that Brussels often represents someone else’s interests rather than European ones,’ Viktor Orbán emphasized, adding that the same feeling emerged in Hungary’s parliament. ‘When it comes to the issue of weapons for Ukraine, for instance, [there is the sense that] the Hungarian left is financed from abroad,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘Those who are giving them the money are all pro-war,’ Orbán noted, insisting that the money was donated with the purpose of involving Hungary in the war through the political left.
As regards Hungary–Ukraine relations, Orbán reiterated that Hungary supported Ukraine in terms of peace, despite the fact that Transcarpathian Hungarians have been ‘deprived of their rights since 2015 in a way reminiscent of old communist times’. ‘Chances for a change after Thursday’s EU summit are better, though new laws have yet to be implemented,’ he nailed down.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/Kossuth Radio/MTI
