PM Orban: I Ask People to Reinforce Trust in Government for Sake of Peace

HirTV interviewed Hungary's prime minister in live broadcast.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Photo: MTI/Hungarian PM’s Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko)

"All kinds of things are possible, things we wouldn't think about today or simple dismiss them," PM Orban pointed out, speaking in the special edition of HirTV's current affairs program. Journalist Zsolt Bayer asked Hungary's prime minister about the outlook for European politics today, noting that two and a half years ago no one would have thought that a war would break out on the continent, a year ago no one would have thought that the entire European Union would seek to enter this war, and three weeks ago no one would have thought that an attempt would be made to kill the prime minister of a neighboring country.

This is also his usual argument, Viktor Orban said, adding that this is also his response when the governing parties are accused of exaggerating the threat of war. He recalled that a few weeks before the war broke out, he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the time, he thought that the chances of the conflict escalating were fifty-fifty, because it became clear to him that the Russians could not accept that Ukraine was moving towards NATO membership.

There is no exaggeration in what we are communicating now, PM Orban stressed.

When speaking to people who say that they are exaggerating, Hungary's prime minister often recalls that two years ago the German chancellor said that Germany would only send helmets as aid in the war, that lethal weapons were out of the question, and that sanctions could not be imposed on the energy sector. "We started from here, and now we have German tanks moving around Ukraine, German air defense systems are being delivered, and Europe's entire economy has been cut off from the Russian energy system, which would otherwise ensure cheap and reasonable supplies", Viktor Orban explained. 

If we continue at half this pace, we will engage in open military confrontation in a few months, he opined.

Is Viktor Orban the only one fomenting war psychosis?

 Zsolt Bayer noted that this is what the opposition keeps saying in the campaign in Hungary. He said it is a classic dramaturgical rule that if we put the gun on stage, a shot must be fired by the end of the third act, and today European powers are placing nuclear weapons on stage. "What can we hope for?" he asked.

War is made by people, Viktor Orban said, it is not the outcome of compulsion, fate, God's punishment or an inescapable curse, but the result of human decisions. He recalled that he himself sat in the Council of the European Union with the other prime ministers, where they swept the Hungarian pro-peace position off the table and proceeded with making decisions, moving towards open conflict.

According to Hungary's prime minister, there is hope, however, that these people can take good decisions, but they must be forced to do so. "Political change is the only thing we can hope for," he said, pointing out that not only the composition of the European Parliament will be decided in the next few days, but European people will also pass judgment on their governments in the member states. "I also ask the people to reinforce the trust in the government for the sake of peace," he said.

The war can be ended in twenty-four hours 

PM Orban said that Brussels and Washington are the centers of war, with the first half of the match to be won this Sunday, and the second half in November in America, where we can hope to see the election of pro-peace presidential candidate Donald Trump. 

If this happens, the people who can stop the war will be in positions on both sides.

"It takes twenty-four hours to stop this war and reach a ceasefire. It takes three phone calls, and the Ukrainian president must be told that instead of the support previously coming automatically, an immediate ceasefire is now a condition for further donations," PM Orban explained.

"What is the probable goal? Why do they want to defeat Russia now?" PM Orban was asked. In his view, Western leaders want to defeat Russia in a war to gain wealth and influence. Ukraine is a rich country in terms of its resources, and that is what they want. At the end of it all, there is money, power, the agricultural land there, and economic opportunities.

They want to bring back Yeltsin's era

According to the Hungarian prime minister, many people wish they could go back to the '90s, when Russia and Ukraine could be exploited, but by now the Russians have had enough of this, and have reorganized their world. The first step would be to defeat the Russians in a military conflict on the Ukraine-Russia border.

"This is when creditors and speculators appear and push the machinery forward. We must bear in mind that what is decisive in a war is not the question of who is right, but

who stays alive,

Viktor Orban pointed out. According to the prime minister, it is never possible to stop in a war, so power should not be handed over to the military. The biggest mistake was that Europe failed to isolate the conflict this time, as it did in Crimea around 2015.

According to Viktor Orban, most people in Central Europe think like us regarding this issue, but their leaders do not. Slovaks, Romanians, Croats, and Serbs share roughly the same opinion, while Poland and the Baltic states have different historical experiences.

Leaders are influenced, even within an alliance, which is what we see every day. These attempts to project power must be averted, according to the prime minister. George Soros and his circles want to open up societies so that they can penetrate them. In better times, left-wing politicians, including heads of government, resisted this, according to PM Orban. The current left, however, has fallen victim to internationalism.

We'll have to pay six million forints a day, because we protect our southern border

The decision is already in place, and the EU wants to announce it after the elections. This is how much we will have to pay every day if we don't let the migrants enter. Viktor Orban recalled that this is not even the tip of the iceberg, as recently they tried to strangle Hungary financially.

We managed to avoid this, investments are flowing into the country, inflation has been driven down, and Hungary's economy has better prospects than most European economies, according to PM Orban.

He noted that Hungary's sovereignty has been successfully protected, which is due, among other things, to the fact that there is no coalition governance and that voters assure the government of their trust. "We are able to protect the country because Hungarians want Hungary to be an independent and sovereign country," Viktor Orban emphasized.

Why do they seek to prevent Hungary from trading with China? 

"Hungarians are self-respecting, we are interested in what the Western world has to say about trade with China," PM  Orban said in response to the question above. According to the prime minister, the world is not fair, those bigger than us do not want to be fair with us, they will put their own interests first. 

"We must concern ourselves with what our goals are, and we must achieve them," he stressed. 

Asked about the buying back of Budapest airport, Hungary's prime minister said that in 2010, the banking sector, the energy sector, the media, and most of the retail trade were all in foreign hands. This included the airport, which was in a monopoly position. In most of these areas, the government was able to increase Hungarian ownership above 50 percent. This was to be followed by the repurchase of the airport, which was held back by Covid, but has now been done.

Fidesz must be reorganized in Budapest

"Alexandra Szentkiralyi is a brave woman. When she decided to run as a mayoral candidate, she set herself a very difficult goal, because the Budapest organization of Fidesz was not strengthened during the term of former Mayor Istvan Tarlos," PM Orban said in response to the question regarding her withdrawal. Alexandra Szentkiralyi entered the campaign without a built-up political community behind her, according to the prime minister.

Budapest must be fought for, in the prime minister's view. The background Fidesz could provide in the current campaign was not strong enough, which is why Alexandra Szentkiralyi made the decision to withdraw, and Viktor Orban accepted it. "Fidesz's point of view has been preceded by another aspect: that there should be change in Budapest, and this is why the decision was supported," Viktor Orban said.

Regarding the stakes of the elections, the PM Orban said that decision must be made on the issue of war and peace, but it does matter who leads our communities, because towns and villages will reflect this. Good local leaders take advantage of the opportunities that arise, he pointed out.

In response to the last question, which was about the upcoming European Football Championship, the Hungarian prime minister said that the national team's ultimate goal will be to reach the finals. We have a team capable of great deeds, but we cannot expect them to surprise us in every match, he said. We must accept the result at the end if the players' hearts were in the right place, Viktor Orban said in conclusion.