Balazs Orban to BBC: Hungarians Want to Decide for Themselves How to Live + Video

The Hungarian PM's policy chief was interviewed on BBC's news program.

Balazs Orban, the Hungarian PM’s political director (Photo: Zoltan Balogh)

The Hungarians are freedom-loving people, they want to decide how to live their own lives, what to do, what their goals are, and what the rules they want to follow are. From a historical point of view also, we Hungarians don't like to be dictated from outside, the Hungarian PM's political director pointed out on BBC's news program HARDTalk on Friday.

Unfortunately, the current progressive, liberal elite likes to dictate to others regarding how to live their lives, what to think about the world order or anything else. So it's a long battle, but we are still standing,

said Balazs Orban in response to the the host's question if Prime Minister Viktor Orban could win the political war against the liberal elite. 

Let’s look at the reality of #liberals: the liberal majority in #Europe, and liberals all over the world are accusing #conservatives and conservative governments of being anti-democratic, while in fact, they are the ones doing everything to cause financial and physical problems… pic.twitter.com/JqnGIqBNRR

— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) September 12, 2024

In response to the presenter's comment that Hungary has been widely criticized, especially in relation to the war in Ukraine, Balazs Orban said that "we have held a minority opinion for the last two and a half years. I think that we are on the good side of history." It was clear from the beginning that Russia has to take responsibility for its violation of international law, the prime minister's policy chief pointed out. 

During the last 2 and half years, the warmongering liberal elites just pushed the 🇺🇦-🇷🇺 war further. Now we have an enormous number of people dying, Ukraine losing territories, and a serious risk of escalation.
So clearly, the Western strategies do not work. We have an… pic.twitter.com/UbnOg8SXP8

— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) September 12, 2024

Russia attacked Ukraine, this is beyond dispute, he stressed, adding that the main issue is what to do, how to resolve the conflict. For the last two and a half years, European leaders and Western liberal leaders have been saying that we should support the Ukrainians and shouldn't take any diplomatic steps, shouldn't engage in negotiations with Russia, we should just continue to support the war. "And what happened?" the politician asked, pointing out that more than half a million people have died, Ukraine has lost more territory than before, the country is on the verge of economic collapse, and there is a daily risk of escalation.

So I don't see it as a sound and logical strategy on the West's part, and we Hungarians have been criticizing this strategy from day one

Balazs Orban said, adding that "we have an alternative vision about it, and they want to silence us in the name of the so-called European unity? I think that the most important value in Europe is democracy and plurality, where every member state can be heard. "Europe hears you," the anchor said, noting that in his view, Hungary is, in essence, saying that Ukraine cannot win, while it thwarts Europe's efforts to help Ukraine with financial and military assistance.

We want no part in the bloodshed

In response, Balazs Orban said that Hungary supports Ukraine in many ways, such as humanitarian aid and energy supply support. Hungarian taxpayers are providing money for the functioning of the Ukrainian state. On the issue of refusing to provide military aid, Balazs Orban highlighted that 

we want to take no part in the killing. I just want to stop killing people for no reason. What's wrong with trying to stop that? If you portray those who disagree with the mainstream policy of the West as Putin's puppet then intellectually all discussions are immediately becoming dead, 

Balazs Orban noted.

National interests

In response to questions pertaining to Hungary's economy, the PM's political director pointed out that "we want to use oil that helps Hungary's economy, which is a decision based on national interests and we have every right to do so. Whether the oil or gas comes from the West or from the East, it makes no difference, because it's a practical question on our side". Balazs Orban emphasized that "we don't want to give up our sovereignty and we want to decide who we cooperate with in the filed of energy policy".

The Hungarian position is always based on Hungary's interests, and we don't care if we're criticized. We are ready to cooperate with our European partners in all fields, as long as it rests on an equal legal footing. We have to do our best to achieve this, but we want to maintain our sovereignty in foreign policy. Actually, I think in this new world order, more and more countries should do the same,

the politician explained. "We will continue to protect the Hungarian people. I personally, and the prime minister and all the right-wing politicians will not let Hungary down when it comes to illegal migration as it happened in many Western countries," said Balazs Orban when asked about the country's anti-immigration policy.

Cover photo: Balazs Orban, the Hungarian PM’s political director (Photo: MTI/Zoltan Balogh)