Orbán described the year 2023 as the most dangerous since the political change. Orbán also referred to the two-thirds victory of the ruling party Fidesz in the parliamentary elections in spring 2022 and the government’s “extraordinary achievements”. He also addressed migration policy and criticized Brussels and the Hungarian opposition.
As a success of 2022, Orbán said that Hungary was able to stay out of the Ukraine war, which might last for years. It is not easy to stay out of this, since in NATO and in the EU, apart from Hungary, everyone is on the side of the war, or at least they claim to be. Hungary would recognize that Ukraine was defending its own sovereignty, but morally it was wrong to put Ukraine’s interests ahead of Hungary’s.
Russia without a chance once morest NATO?
In addition to rejecting EU sanctions, the prime minister also emphasized that Hungary maintained economic relations with Russia, which he also recommended to the West. The war in Ukraine would show that Russia had no chance once morest NATO. Orbán, in turn, accused Ukraine of “deception” because she wanted to make it credible that the Russians “won’t stop until the ocean”.
At the same time, the prime minister emphasized Hungary’s “great humanitarian aid” for Ukrainian refugees. According to Orbán, Russia does not pose a real threat to the security of Hungary and Europe.
Europe in indirect war
But according to Orbán, Europe is actually at an indirect war with Russia, going through minutes of drifting into war through arms deliveries, training, sanctions. According to Orbán, this danger would constantly loom. It would have started with the delivery of helmets, then tanks and now combat aircraft are also on the agenda.
According to Orbán, NATO membership is of existential importance for Hungary. Since the country is on the eastern edge of the western world, it cannot do without this membership and cannot afford such luxuries as Austria and Switzerland. At the same time, the Prime Minister emphasized that NATO is a defense alliance and not a war alliance.
NATO membership would not require any commitments other than common defence. Member states cannot expect each other to jointly attack a third country in the interests of some common war goal, Orbán stressed.
