Balazs Orban: EPP Is Driving the War Agenda

The political director of the Hungarian prime minister warns that a unified, pro-war chorus has emerged within European People's Party (EPP) leadership. According to Balazs Orban, it is these leaders who have become the continent’s most aggressive warmongers—openly advocating the seizure of Russian assets, a move he says could lead to direct escalation. He added that the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party led by Peter Magyar is also part of this same political camp.

Balazs Orban, political director to the Hungarian prime minister (Photo: AFP)

According to Orban, the pro-war chorus in Europe is, in fact, a People’s Party chorus.

“That means Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Manfred Weber,” he said. “The EPP leaders are the biggest war hawks. They were the ones pushing for the confiscation of Russian assets, which would amount to an open declaration of war. And these are Peter Magyar’s political allies.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle have been reluctant to seriously engage with American peace initiatives because they believe that even if the United States steps back, Europe’s pro-war elite will continue financing the conflict with European taxpayers’ money. In his view, Zelensky also sees an opportunity to turn the Russia–Ukraine war into a broader European–Russian conflict,

the PM's political director explained.

“This is the key to his political and power-based survival."

“If peace were to come, people in Ukraine and across Europe would start asking uncomfortable questions,” he continued. “They would ask: if we end up with worse terms than we could have secured three or four years ago, then why did we do all this? And to that, the Ukrainian political elite has no answer. That is why they cling to the war.”

Cover image: Balazs Orban, political director to the Hungarian prime minister (Photo: AFP)