Balazs Orban: Hungary Should Adopt a “Key Country" Strategy

Whether a nation becomes a key country depends not on its size or population, Balazs Orban, the Prime Minister’s Political Director, pointed out at the Tranzit Festival in Tihany.

Balazs Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister's Political Director at the Tranzit Festival (Source: MTI/Noemi Bruzak)

he declared. “We are Europe. It is our responsibility to shape Europe, and if Europe moves in a direction contrary to our interests, we must fight for a change of course.”

On migration, he said the EU is confronted with issues where compromise is logically impossible. “Either you let them in, or you don’t. We cannot meet halfway by saying Hungary will let in every second migrant,” he said. 

Balazs Orban argued that Hungary and its political allies’ approach to such civilizational issues is being suppressed, even though different opinions should be able to coexist.

Szent-Ivanyi responded that 26 EU member states had managed to reach a migration compromise, with Hungary as the sole exception. He argued that where proper national regulations in alignment with the EU had been adopted, millions of migrants had not arrived, and the same would apply to Hungary. On Ukraine, he questioned why Hungary takes such a sharply divergent stance from EU policy. "I don't expect the government to rattle its sword on the side of Ukraine, but to at least show solidarity," the liberal ex-politician added, accusing the government of being “extremely understanding” toward Russia while constantly criticizing Ukraine, the victim. Orban replied that Prime Minister Viktor Orban had condemned Russian aggression as early as 2022. Achieving peace, he argued, requires a lasting, complex settlement between Russia and NATO, Russia and the West—covering security, energy, global power and trade—that would lay the foundations of a new security architecture for decades.

“This conversation is taking place, but EU leaders are not at the table. Nobody takes them seriously. The result could be an agreement that is unlikely to put Europe’s interests first,” Orban warned. He added that if the U.S. withdraws from the proxy war, the EU’s next budget will be consumed entirely by Ukraine, leaving “no chance of a competitiveness turnaround in Europe.”

The PM's political director described Hungary’s foreign policy as realist and national-interest-based, focused on connectivity and expanding the country's room for maneuver.

Cover photo: Balazs Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister's Political Director at the Tranzit Festival (Source: MTI/Noemi Bruzak)