Hungary’s prime minister emphasizes the importance of contacts with Russia and accuses Ukraine of “misleading”. Orbán cited the fact that Hungary was able to stay out of the Ukraine war as a success in 2022.
The 24th speech on the state of the nation by right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday at a major event in Budapest was marked by the Russian war once morest Ukraine, EU sanctions and the energy crisis. 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.
Russia ‘no threat’ to Hungary
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.
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 poses no real threat to Hungary’s security.
