Viktor Orbán: Sanctions bring us closer to war

“If Europe continues to see itself as a warring party – then we will become more and more involved in this conflict” – said Viktor Orbán.

Budapest, 2021. november 26. A Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda által közreadott képen Orbán Viktor kormányfõ a Kossuth Rádió stúdiójában, ahol interjút adott a Jó reggelt, Magyarország! címû mûsorban 2021. november 26-án. MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán Fotó: Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán

The rule is: if there is war in your neighborhood, you cannot feel safe

– said Viktor Orbán in the “Jó reggelt, Magyarország!” (Good morning, Hungary!) show on Kossuth Rádió. He emphasized that not only are we physically in danger, but our economy is also. threatened – these vulnerabilities and dangers were clearly demonstrated by the missile that hit Poland.  

Sliding into war step by step 

According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, if we keep doing what we are doing – if Europe continues to see itself as a warring party – then we will become more and more involved in this conflict, and the dangers that threaten us will become more and more real.  

He emphasized that,  

Sanctions are a step towards war 

As he explained, if someone intervenes in conflict like this, then they must side with one of the warring parties – bringing us one step closer to the war. Back in February, Europe approached the war rather cautiously, but as they established more and more measures to deal with it, they became increasingly involved in the conflict. 

Step by step we are sliding into the war – what Europe is doing is a very dangerous thing. We want peace, but aside from us, nobody else is pursuing this,

– he added. “Sanctions can seem like a good idea, many feel that they are fair – however, with these, we cause much more damage to ourselves than to the one we are trying to target, Russia,” he stated. 

In connection with sanctions policies, he explained that politics are a lot like family life. If something is not successful, then we either take stock or later on process the feeling of failure by recounting things differently. “Fooling ourselves is not going to help: we must dissuade European leaders from childishly remembering things in a different way than what really happened,” he said.  

Regarding the ninth sanctions package, Viktor Orbán emphasized that Hungary never supported the sanctions and they have succeeded in getting exemptions.  

“We generally do not consider sanctions politics good European politics; if they do implement these decisions though, we must always insist that we negotiate some kind of exception. That is exactly how we were able to get out of the most destructive measures,” 

– said the Prime Minister. As he stated, this is another reason why the national consultation is so important: we are fighting hard battles in the EU and it is very important that the current Hungarian government has the support of the Hungarian people behind it. What the Hungarian government says is what the people believe,” said the PM. He believes that if there is a ninth sanctions package – for example on the matter of nuclear energy – they will manage to get an exemption.  

Hungary defends its interests 

Concerning the economic situation and the latest price freezes, the PM said: inflation cannot be offset, only reduced. In relation to the EU’s sanctions policies, he said that “Hungary is able to get out of and achieve exemptions from measures that threaten or entail immediate economic decline. For example, Russian gas continues to be delivered to Hungary. If we didn’t have that, then Hungary’s economy would come to a halt,” he pointed out. At the same time, the PM noted that we cannot exempt ourselves from the overall effects of sanctions on Europe, such as inflation. “Inflation was brought about by political decisions such as sanctions. This did not happen as a result of economic processes. It was because of political decisions. The results of which were high inflation and an energy crisis,” he concluded. 

Hungary cannot aim to be an untouched island in the middle of the EU, he stated. Hungary can however aim to defend its basic interests and reduce the impacts of EU policies.  

“The government has an action plan which includes the price freeze on consumer goods and gasoline, as well as utilities price cuts which will give every family a monthly 180-thousand-forint discount,” added the PM.  

As he stated, the government has two options: one, to not do anything and wait for the outside problem to fade away. Or two, to try and eliminate the problem. According to Viktor Orbán, this is the time to act. 

When asked about economic growth, he said that since the coronavirus pandemic we have been experiencing economic growth, however, the war brought negative impacts thus growth has slowed but recession threatens all European countries.  

Hungary wants to stay out of this, we want to preserve our full employment and our growth rates that surpass the EU average, as well as support for families and national unification. 

“Not only do we not want to backslide in these matters, but we want positive, forward-looking measures and we will provide further information on these in December,” noted the Prime Minister. He added that we cannot submit ourselves to the kind of thinking that our most important goals should be abandoned. “We have made several efforts to support businesses, tourism, and all important fields to help them manage this difficult economic situation.” 

“The paralyzed shipments and fired electrical stations are not the only important things this year – there was an election and a new government was formed. At that time, there were no sanctions yet. The government was organized according to the working needs at the time,” explained Viktor Orbán. Since then, as he said, the sanctions were introduced causing the energy crisis to be a rather long-term problem on our hands; the government must adapt to this accordingly. Energy is like this and should be reflected in the government’s responsibilities.  

Now Hungary is in need of a separate energy ministry for a few years, responsible for this industry,

– emphasized the PM. He believes the key issue for strengthening the army is the military industry which they are now rebuilding; this is the second most important task and therefor, 

he asked Minister Palkovics to head the Hungarian military industry. 

Whoever pays the musician chooses the music 

As winter approaches, the Hungarian Prime Minister also discussed that “this year we are blessed in terms of energy as we have enough stored for the season. We have enough for half a year stored, however come spring we will need to refill again. This will be a challenge for all of Europe. Our situation is easier since we managed to get those exemptions. This spring – given the South Stream is still in operation – we can refill our storage facilities via the southern pipeline. In the meantime, prices are sky-high. In the next few years, we must increase the amount of energy produced domestically,” he said. 

In connection with the dollar liberals, the PM stated that we must wait for decisions from the secret service’s leadership regarding the documents. He described the foreign funding for the Hungarian left as outrageous. According to him, this raises the question: what did the Americans ask in exchange for this money? 

He who pays the musician chooses the music. The question is: where was the music ordered from, who paid for it, and what did they have to do?

– he added. “A football team displays their sponsors – I know who is behind the team. The left has not yet adopted this practice. That is a mistake,” concluded Viktor Orbán.