"Having an army is necessary, and does not lead to war. Oddly enough, the absence of armies leads to war," Viktor Orban said in an interview on Kossuth Radio's Good Morning, Hungary program. The PM explained that strength and armed forces are necessary to avoid war, as wars are most often caused by weakness. "A country risks being attack if the enemy believes that it can defeat it. If you want peace, prepare for war," he added. Defense capabilities are necessary and it is bad enough that Hungary has not been strong in this regard for a long time. "However, we have started to develop our armed forces and are progressing very well."
Will Russia stop after defeating Ukraine?
This is the most important issue, the premier said noting that he is aware that many people think that this will not happen. But PM Orban is of the opinion that the Russians are no match for the Ukrainian army, while NATO is a hundred or perhaps a thousand times stronger than Ukraine, meaning that it is not Russia's interest to attack the defense organization. NATO was originally created for the alliance to line up as one country behind an attacked member state. He also pointed out that a long period of preparation preceded entry into both world wars,
and what is currently happening in Brussels and Washington is establishing the mood for a direct military conflict.
It is incomprehensible, according to Mr Orban, why the focus is not on preventing further devastation, and why they are not isolating this conflict by saying that this is a war between two Slavic nations. It is in everyone else's interest to isolate this conflict, but instead the West is treating this war as their own. The change in Germany's position illustrates how we are drifting into war: initially they decided to only ship helmets, while now they are sending weapons and are even considering the sending of troops.
In theory, the strategy is that Ukrainians fight on the front line while we provide them with weapons, money and technical equipment. At the negotiations on the war, I have asked on multiple occasions whether anyone can tell me how much money will have to be spent for the Ukrainians to force the Russians out of the occupied territories. The answer to this question is usually silence,
PM Orban said.
This election will decide the question of war or peace in Europe
The prime minister emphasized that Hungary insists on NATO's founding charter, which states that it is a defense alliance with no mention of NATO going to war outside its members' territory. Yet, currently, preparations for war are taking place in NATO's Brussels headquarters and the organization is discussing how it can take part in the war, Mr Orban stressed.
"We have indicated that we do not want to get involved in this neither with weapons nor with financial assistance. We adhere to the basic NATO philosophy, and serious work is underway on how we can stay within the framework of NATO while not taking part in an action outside of a NATO member state," he added.
Posterity may well speak of the current election as one where the question of war and peace was decided, Viktor Orban opined.
The stakes are similar in the US elections, he added.
Who gains from this war?
It is a difficult question as to who gains from this war, according to the prime minister. He noted that there is extra profit in war, and this has a cultural history also in Hungary. Those who have inside information about the war and can speculate are also behind the war. He named George Soros as an example. "All these forces hold an economic interest in the war. Politicians can also be bought, just take the left wing in Hungary. Pro-war financiers provide funding for the Hungarian left, which has assumed a pro-war position contrary to the view of voters, he said.
Taking a look at the problems of European life - such as migration and demography - reveals that most of the problems can be traced back to war. Europe is now unable to protect itself from migration because the continent lost people. This is because these people have died in wars over the last few hundred years. As the Hungarian prime minister put it,
the First and Second World Wars raging in Europe were essentially European civil wars, causing the death of great many white, Christian people.
Brussels puts the cart before the horse
In PM Orban's view, reality is secondary to ideals in Brussels, with most politicians saying they are in office not because of the people, but to represent lofty ideals. If anyone in the EU today looks at what is good for the people, they are branded populists, he pointed out, adding, however, that he believes that the final resort is the voice of the people, the weight of their opinion. "If there is a real issue that people should have a say in, then it is the issue of war and peace," he said. As Hungary's prime minister sees it, the number of people who want peace will increase in Europe in the coming period. Drifting into war can be halted, in his opinion, but a lot of work needs to be done in order to get back to the initial situation.
The Hungarian premier believes that voters can at least stop the process of drifting into war in the upcoming elections. He then went on to say that Hungary has to pay Brussels six million forints a day because the country does not want to take in migrants. "While we are protecting Europe, Hungary gets shot in the back from Brussels. The whole situation is absurd as it is. European leaders who make such decisions should be ousted," Viktor Orban said in conclusion of the interview.
Cover photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during an earlier Kossuth Radio interview (Photo: Prime Minister's Cabinet Office/Zoltan Fischer)
