Balazs Nemet went on to point out that 70 percent of the French say Macron should go and shouldn’t even finish his second term because the country’s falling apart. "But really, in which democracy have we ever seen liberal leaders actually act according to the will of the people?" He also noted that President Zelensky recently declared it irrelevant what Hungarians or Viktor Orban say, because Ukraine’s EU membership is now an irreversible process.
Peter Szijjarto responded firmly:
In my view, the president of Ukraine has completely lost his sense of reality — entirely disconnected from the real world. That’s probably the only explanation for why he says things that, in a normal situation, would make the ceiling crack. So he says ‘Ukraine will be an EU member, period.’ Dear Mr. President, you are the least qualified person to decide that. Who becomes a member of the European Union is not decided by those who want to join, but by those who are already members. And it has to be a unanimous decision. Until every single EU member agrees, there will be no membership. This isn’t rocket science — everyone knows it. We understand that he believes the Ukrainian people have decided they’ll be members, but that’s simply not how it works.
He went on to add: "This decision will be made by the people of the European Union — including the Hungarian people. And the Hungarian people have already spoken: we do not want to be in a strategic integration with Ukraine. We do not want Ukraine to join the EU or NATO. And let me add — they won’t."
Host Balazs Nemeth then recalled how, before the Copenhagen summit, Viktor Orban and European Affairs Minister Janos Boka warned that Brussels was looking for ways to “trick” or bypass the right of veto. "But in Copenhagen," he said, "they quietly backed off, because they realized there are other member states that don’t want to give up their veto power either. Maybe not because of Ukraine, but on EU issues in general."
In response Peter Szijjarto gave an example:
There’s this so-called European Peace Facility. Funny name, really, because it’s the EU’s financial instrument that gives money to member states but only when they send weapons to Ukraine. We vetoed those payments — six billion euros in total — so they can’t be made,
Peter Szijjarto said, and recalled how EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell once announced a 'breakthrough deal' to make those payments voluntary. "Borrell was overjoyed. He’d been publicly blaming me at every meeting for blocking the payouts. He said: ‘Finally, we’ve reached an agreement with Peter’ and called it a huge success. Payments could go ahead on a voluntary basis! And then, right at this point, some countries said, ‘Well, actually, we don’t agree with that.’"
That’s how it often goes. And in the corridors, when we talk one-on-one, they say: ‘Please, hold your ground today — we’re counting on you.’ Because they can’t say it publicly. Now that unanimity is being questioned, it’s dawning on everyone what it really means. Today they want to bypass Hungary over Ukraine. But what if tomorrow they want to bypass you on something vital to your own country? Every nation has its specific interests. A coastal country cares about the fishing industry, for instance,
he said.
"So every country has their specific interests, and at least 1-2-5-10 issues where they need unanimity. And it's starting to sink in for everyone now that if bureaucrats from Brussels, and politicians in the capitals of one or two major European countries, can decide things over our heads from time to time, that won't be good, he emphasized.
Peter Szijjarto then turned to the Nord Stream sabotage case, saying.
"A suspect was arrested in Poland on a German warrant, accused of taking part in blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline in 2022. And what does Donald Tusk say? He tells the Polish courts not to extradite the man to Germany because he’s not a terrorist, not a bomber, but a kind of hero, and the real criminals were those who built the gas link between Russia and Germany. And although there hasn’t even been a court decision yet, the press runs headlines like ‘Poland refuses extradition’ as if it were fact. Once again, the truth gets buried.”
And these are the same people accusing Hungary of lacking judicial independence! Meanwhile, not a word from anyone when Tusk interferes in an ongoing legal process. Let’s be clear: a group of people blew up a pipeline, a vital piece of Europe’s energy infrastructure. That’s called terrorism. If it was done on state orders, that’s state terrorism. So when Tusk calls that act praiseworthy, where does that logic end?
said Peter Szijjarto. According to this reasoning, anyone can destroy anything they don’t like, he pointed out, adding that "And this is coming from an EU prime minister!"
"And then there is the European Parliament. They just voted to save a far-left Italian activist from prison — a woman who beat people half to death.
So basically, the message from Brussels is: go ahead, roam the streets in gangs, and if someone bothers you, beat them up. Or if you crawl around the dance floor between girls’ legs at a nightclub and someone films it, just grab their phone, and toss it into the nearest river. If this is what passes for the European way of life, then something has gone terribly wrong,
he emphasized.
There’s a Ukrainian-Hungarian bilingual school in Csepel, and a father from there sent a message to the program. He wrote that the history teacher told the sixth graders: "When Hungary attacks Ukraine, you’ll have to go home and defend your homeland." The school itself is good, he said, but the Ukrainians are openly recruiting here. Just one example of how tense the situation has become in Hungary–Ukraine relations.
The Ukrainians asked us to help them set up such schools here in Hungary, where Ukrainian children could receive part of their education in their native language. Interesting request given that, in Transcarpathia, they’re taking drastic steps to restrict ethnic Hungarian children’s access to education in their mother tongue. Of course we usually grant these requests, because we believe the Ukrainian children living in Hungary aren’t to blame for the decisions made by President Zelensky. We therefore make sure that children of other nationalities living in Hungary can study in their own language. Now it seems this is the gratitude we receive for that,
Peter Szijjarto said.
Among the program’s topics was also that Marton Gulyas from opposition media Partizan conducted an interview with Angela Merkel. Viewers of Partizan also learned that Viktor Orban is not Vladimir Putin’s Trojan horse. Reacting to this, Peter Szijjarto said:
What a disappointment that must have been! Let’s at least record to the credit of Partizan that they didn’t cut this part out — maybe because it was live, I don’t know, I didn’t see it. Still, the fact that it stayed in the broadcast is a huge step toward press freedom, even if it left them disappointed.
However, the interview, recorded in Budapest, sparked debate in Poland and across the Baltics, because Merkel began speaking about how the Russia–Ukraine war could have been prevented.
At first, when it wasn’t yet clear that the former Chancellor had made statements at odds with the mainstream narrative, the interview was described as one given to an opposition media outlet in Hungary.
Then, as they began looking more closely and realized, this might not be what they expected, it suddenly became simply a Hungarian outlet. And finally, as the content spread and it became obvious she hadn’t spoken in the tone they’d hoped for, the story had shifted all the way to: 'Something was said in Hungary.'
That’s how quickly they backpedaled, Szijjarto underlined.
The situation is getting rougher by the day, and that war psychosis, I believe, is becoming more and more dangerous. The more the European public is being pushed in a pro-war direction, the greater the danger that if some misunderstanding occurs, or something ambiguous happens, or even just an accident, the reaction won’t be based on common sense. It won’t be based on the real interests of lasting peace and security. That's why what the European politicians are doing is extremely dangerous. Because in the long run, this could endanger Europe’s peace and security,
said Peter Szijjarto.
Part of that war psychosis, host Balazs Nemeth said, is that the issue of conscription is now being raised in more and more countries. In Hungary, this is not on the table, at least not from the government’s side. But Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi from the Tisza Party says young people should be brought back under mandatory service. Could conscription be reintroduced?
Technically, yes, Szijjarto replied. We didn’t abolish it, we suspended it.
"But this is part of the same war hysteria that is being built across Europe," he continued." And the Tisza Party belongs to that family of parties that fuels this hysteria with the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, and Ursula von der Leyen personally building this war atmosphere. And their clear instruction to every member party is: do the same."
In my opinion, we should finally be talking about peace and how peace can be achieved instead of how to make war. However, it is clear if a puppet government comes into power here after the next elections in a hundred-and-eighty-some days, we’ll have war fever, conscription, the dismantling of family support programs, higher taxes, and an influx of migrants. Why? Because this what Brussels wants. And we’ve been standing up against it for many years now, nearly a decade and a half. Brussels wants this, and we are the ones pushing back. But if Hungary ends up with a government that won’t resist these Brussels plans, then Brussels’ will shall prevail. And if Brussels’ will prevails, then Hungary will be dragged into war, flooded with migrants, swept up in gender madness, stripped of family support, and burdened with higher taxes. Is that really the future we want for this country?
Balazs Nemeth went on to ask the minister about the gravity of the data leak from the Tisza Party's mobile app and the possible Ukrainian connection behind it.
We’re not talking about hidden background threads but we’re looking at a crystal-clear situation. The Tisza Party’s app leaked data and contact details of its supporters, members, and activists became accessible, which ended up in foreign hands. This is clear as daylight. And not just any foreign hands but Ukrainian ones. It appears that these data — the personal details of Hungarian citizens — may have reached groups with direct links to the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian army, or Ukrainian intelligence services. And regardless of the fact that those people don’t support us and may even dislike us, this remains a deeply serious issue. Because it means that the personal information of Hungarian citizens has been handed over to foreign actors, giving them a tool to influence Hungarian people,
Hungary's foreign minister pointed out. "I think this is an extremely serious matter," he added, "because that means foreign influence over what is happening in Hungary. Foreign influence over Hungarians making a decision about their own future. That’s the first step in losing sovereignty," he stressed. If there were ever a Tisza-led government whose activists could be inspired, directed, or influenced from abroad, then whose will would prevail in that government? It wouldn’t be Hungary’s. It would be foreign will. And that’s extremely dangerous," he underlined.
Host Nemeth Balazs continued: You can work all you want on connecting infrastructure, building power lines, gas pipelines, roads to make Hungary accessible from every direction and the media outlets cite some “expert” report claiming that the Mohacs Bridge is a waste of money because only 600 cars will cross it daily, even though it costs 300 billion forints. Totally pointless, they say.
I can give you something even more absurd. Right now, not a single car crosses the Mohacs Bridge. And yet the bridge is being built. Outrageous, isn’t it? There’s no bridge there yet! When it’s built, cars will cross. The whole thing is ridiculous. The truth is, this will be part of another transport corridor through the Balkans that connects to Hungary,
Szijjarto replied.
Finally, Szijjarto addressed another issue: the outlet called Blikk, citing some foreign article, claimed that despite Russian oil, fuel prices have risen the most in Hungary over the past five years. "There’s only one problem with that claim: they’re comparing today’s price to the earlier price-capped price. The same category of media outlets write every week that Hungary profits from its relations with Russia, that we maintain ties because of cheaper Russian oil" he continued.
We buy oil from Russia for two simple reasons. First, without it, our remaining infrastructure couldn’t supply the country. Second, I’ve never seen a responsible decision-maker willingly choose to rely on more expensive and less reliable energy sources instead of cheaper and reliable ones. What kind of responsible politician would do a swap like that?
The minister emphasized: So the situation is that today, for example, I looked at the statistics, not for oil, but for natural gas, and found that the bills paid by families for natural gas in Europe are by far the lowest in Hungary, with Hungarian families paying 71 percent less than the European average for natural gas.
And the same holds true for oil. If Brussels ever forced us to buy oil exclusively through Croatia instead of the two routes we currently use, Hungary would see a dramatic rise in fuel prices,
he added.
Cover photo: Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: MTI)
Szóljon hozzá!
Jelenleg csak a hozzászólások egy kis részét látja. Hozzászóláshoz és a további kommentek megtekintéséhez lépjen be, vagy regisztráljon!