Policy Chief Shares Details of PM Orban's Peace Mission to Kyiv and Moscow

In the past two and a half years, more and more people have been talking about peace and their intentions to establish it, but so far no one has been brave enough to do anything about it, such as reopening the channels of communication between the parties, Prime Minister Orban's political director told Hungary's Kossuth Radio on Sunday morning.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: MTI/PM's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)

According to Balazs Orban, Hungary's EU presidency is a good opportunity to act, which is why PM Viktor Orban's visit to Kyiv, and then to Moscow, was important. He recalled that there is a terrible war in Hungary's neighborhood, but this is not the first war in world history, so we must try to observe it objectively. Whenever there's no clear winner or loser, the conflict is always settled through negotiation, first with a ceasefire and then with a long and bitter series of diplomatic talks, he said.

During both of his negotiations, Hungary's prime minister proposed a time-bound ceasefire, similar to the position of US presidential candidate Donald Trump.

PM Orban wanted to find out what the warring sides and the leaders of the major countries thought. As the EU's President-in-Office, he intends to send reports on his visits to the leaders of member states because European voters have the right to know who is serious about peace and who is just talking about it, Balazs Orban said. 

The Hungarian government believes that, in many aspects, Europe is in a position where it must take action, PM Orban's policy chief explained. Firstly, in this conflict, everyone is looking after their own interests, and while the continent has nothing to gain from this war, it has plenty to lose. Secondly, the US presidential candidate who currently seems to be the front-runner is openly campaigning on the promise of peace, while it is unclear how long the currently pro-war US Democrats will maintain their stance, and when they might steer their foreign policy in a different direction.

Therefore, if Europe does not take steps toward peace, once Russia and Ukraine end the war, peace will be concluded without taking into account the interests of Europe and the continent, he stressed. During Hungary's EU presidency, PM Viktor Orban considers it his responsibility that the community takes action and actively initiates, because apparently, the current state of stagnation and the repeated slogans are not leading anywhere politically, militarily, or diplomatically, he added.

Summing up the experiences of the Hungarian prime minister's recent visit, Balazs Orban said:

The situation is difficult. Russia and Ukraine, the two countries at war, have both stressed the importance of peace but have very different views on how to achieve it.

However, the peace mission does not end here: it is important to hear the views of others on this issue, and only by analyzing these can we responsibly say whether the path to peace is indeed visible.

Referring to the reactions within the EU to PM Orban's recent visits, Balazs Orban underlined that Hungary must reject any approach that allows anyone to dictate with whom it has the right to maintain diplomatic relations as a sovereign country. "Critical statements are self-revealing, as they show that those who only talk about peace are not really serious but are just trying to buy time to continue the war," he said. At the same time, the perception of Mr Orban's visits is mixed, because 

many responsible former heads of state and government, as well as opinion leaders with a serious role in public life, believe that the Hungarian peace mission is a courageous act and the only way to peace.

Balazs Orban also pointed out that the past two years have shown that although the war, an internal Russian-Ukrainian affair, is taking place with the direct involvement of two sides, the fact that the world and the conflict have reached such a stage is partly due to several third parties. As the situation has expanded into a global conflict, if one truly means peace, one needs to negotiate and consult not just with the countries at war, but also with many others, he emphasized. He added that 

PM Viktor Orban is perfectly suited to this task, as Hungary is basically the only country that can find common ground with all the states of the world.

– Mr Orban's political director stated that without overestimating its own importance, Hungary can play a decisive role in resolving the conflict, which is crucial because "we're also caught in the crossfire: in Transcarpathia, the war has already claimed the lives of hundreds of Hungarians, and we have been suffering the war's negative economic consequences since it began," Balazs Orban said.

Cover photo: PM Orban and Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: MTI/PM's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)