PM Orban: Over Two Million People Have Voted in Voks 2025

If we admit Ukraine to the EU, we are also admitting the war, Hungary's prime minister says.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Kossuth Radio (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)

“Membership in the European Union comes with consequences: if we admit Ukraine to the EU, we’re also bringing the war into the Union,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated in his weekly interview on Kossuth Radio this morning. According to the prime minister, if this happens, it will only be a matter of time before the other member states become directly involved in the armed conflict. That’s why he recently emphasized that we do not want to see Hungarian soldiers coming home from the Ukrainian front in coffins.

PM Orban believes that Western European leaders have plunged into a war, whereas Hungary has consistently advocated for a ceasefire. In contrast, the West says, "this is our war," and thus Ukraine is also fighting for European security.

“That’s why we’re the ones paying for Ukrainian pensions, public services and the military,” he added. Orban believes Ukraine couldn’t survive a single day without Western support, and that EU membership would bring only trouble for the Union.

The prime minister elaborated: “Europe must not get entangled in this war. If we admit Ukraine, we are also admitting the war. Our soldiers could die in a war that has nothing to do with us.” He added that this is not in Hungary’s interest.

Regarding the financing of Ukraine, the Prime Minister stated: “Europe doesn’t have the money, yet we’re trying to sustain another state. The Americans have already stopped funding the Ukrainian army, because their president is a businessman who calculated that it’s a bad deal. Now the burden falls on the EU. Since there’s no money, loans must be taken out, and growing massive debts will weigh down on us.”

Zelensky Threatened Hungarians

In response to a question from the radio host, Viktor Orban said that the Ukrainian president threatened Hungary in an interview published by a Hungarian media outlet earlier that week.

The PM said it’s clear: if a Ukrainian phrases it like that, it is a threat.

He added: that kind of approach might yield results in Western Europe, 

however, Hungary is not a country that drops to its knees before the Ukrainian president.

“Don’t try to play the role of moral champions, because no one authorized them to do so. They can’t talk down to us Hungarians,” he stated. According to Orban, Ukraine is in trouble and is receiving help from Hungary: “We let in their refugees, feed them, educate their children, and provide safety. We don’t ask for thanks, but it’s outrageous that they accuse us of disrespect.” The prime minister said Zelensky needs to understand that Hungary belongs to Hungarians, and he cannot make demands here.

PM Orban made it clear: Ukraine cannot demand that Hungary support its EU membership. He said there are pro-Ukrainian parties in Hungary, such as Tisza and the Democratic Coalition (DK), but that does not entitle the Ukrainian president to speak about Hungary in such a manner.

Over Two Million Have Already Voted in the Voks 2025 Poll

The prime minister said Zelensky’s friends, the Tisza Party, held their own vote in which participants supported Ukraine’s EU membership. But there is also an ongoing national consultation called Voks 2025.

Orban revealed that more than two million people have already voted in this public opinion poll.

He stressed the importance of every Hungarian citizen expressing their opinion on the matter. He warned of an upcoming major international showdown, as EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss banning the import of oil, gas and nuclear fuel from Russia.

"If they push this through, Hungary will have to pay two to three times more for energy than now," he added. In his view, the decision must be prevented in order to protect the utility cost cuts scheme.

He believes that if Hungary did everything Brussels is requesting in its country-specific recommendations, half of Hungarian families would be ruined. He recalled that Brussels is asking for the removal of interest rate caps and price margin caps, and the same applies to housing subsidies.

Attacks are also regularly made on Hungary’s work-based economy and its utility cost reduction measures, he noted.

The interests of the Hungarian people must be protected, the prime minister emphasized.

He took the view that Brussels' goal with these measures is to take more money away from Hungary. As he put it, he usually refers to them as Brussels bureaucrats.

 

Patriots Against Brussels

There's  not enough energy left for all-European issues, he added. Hungary has seen this kind of thing before in its history. Although the effort is now coming from Brussels, Hungarians have seen something similar coming from Vienna too. The goal of these bureaucrats is to strip member states of their powers. As he stated,

they have nothing to do with the utility cost reduction scheme.

Nor do they have anything to do with unemployment benefits, tax rebates for families raising children, or the 13th month pension. "The end result is that they want to tell us how to live in the member states. But we didn’t create them for that — we created them to coordinate the work of the member states."

The Patriots were formed to restore the powers that were unconstitutionally taken away from nation-states, Viktor Orban pointed out.

With the formation of the Patriots, the first step was successful, he said, but there are also other sister party groups. He believes that within the next two to three years, patriotic governments will be in power in every major European country.

Regarding the law on protecting local identity, Viktor Orban said the Hungarian government has embarked on an interesting experiment. While parts of rural Hungary are fighting depopulation, there are villages that are turning into cities even though the residents do not want that.

"Each municipality must decide for itself whether it wants to protect itself, but we had to give them the legal authority to preserve the original character of their settlements if they wish," he stated.

Cover photo: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Kossuth Radio (Photo: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer)