Speaking after the one-day EU summit in Brussels, Viktor Orban said that the use of frozen Russian assets was a dead idea.
We rejected this from the outset, we made it clear that Hungary opposes it and will assume no responsibility for it
Hungary's Prime Minister said, adding that if this proposal had passed, Hungary would have found itself directly involved in a war within days, but certainly within three months. "We have managed to avoid this, which is a huge success."
As Magyar Nemzet reported earlier, it had become clear that overall, EU businesses have more assets in Russia than the Russian assets that have been frozen, which he said meant that Europe would ultimately lose out if Russia retaliated. It had also turned out, he said, that the use of Russia's assets would not have been legally defensible because it would have been considered a confiscation or expropriation of Russia's assets. Belgium would only have taken this risk together with the other member states, he said, adding that "no one really wanted to do this."
Regarding joint EU borrowing, the Prime Minister said that Hungary and Slovakia were the ones who blocked it.
We said that we do not want to take out a joint loan and send this money, or provide it in the form of loan, to Ukraine, which we already know that the Ukrainians will never be able to pay back,
he said.
He added that Slovakia strongly opposed the proposal as well, and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis also stated that his government does not want to send money to Ukraine.
We said that if they want to board this train and we do not want to buy a ticket for it, then we should not be forced to get on this train. So we stayed out of it,
PM Orban explained.
What has now been created is a war loan, he said. With the exception of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, all EU member states have formed a lending community, using EU funds as well, to provide a war loan to Ukraine.
We have stayed out of this,
he emphasized.
He said he believed this loan would never be paid back, and would have to be covered by those who are issuing it to Ukraine. "So we have saved our children and grandchildren from having to bear the burden later for money sent to a failed war in the form of a war loan," he said.
Viktor Orban also highlighted as important that the V3 came together, with Slovaks, Czechs, and Hungarians acting in unison. "These three together are a heavyweight," he said.
This is encouraging, and we will carry on with this cooperation,
he added, noting, however, that the bad news is that although Hungary has stayed out of all this, through the war loan European leaders have supported the war, and preparations for war are continuing.
So, overall, I've only got bad news and bad experiences in terms of the threat of war. The good thing is that we are staying out of it,
Viktor Orban concluded.
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