PM Orban Warns of Step Tantamount to Declaration of War

The leadership in Brussels is preparing a step that amounts to a declaration of war, Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated, emphasizing that Hungary has protected itself against possible retaliatory measures by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a speech at the Hungarian Entrepreneurs’ Day, the year-end business event of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ), at Mupa on December 5, 2025 (Photo: MTI/Robert Hegedus)

The confiscation and expropriation of Russian assets, as outlined in the plans of the European Commission, that is, taking frozen Russian assets and handing them over to Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, is nothing less than an open declaration of war, Viktor Orban said in a video uploaded to his social media page.

Viktor Orban warns of the step Brussels wants to take (Photo: AFP)

"I am certain that I have never seen anything like this, and I do not recall ever having studied anything similar," the Hungarian Prime Minister added. He emphasized:

I have seen cases where, at the end of a war, the winners take territory, population, and assets from the defeated. I could speak at length about that. But for a legally uninvolved party in the middle of a war, such as the European Union in the Russian-Ukrainian war, to simply take the assets of one of the warring parties and give them to the other party that is fighting the war cannot be interpreted in any other way than as a declaration of war. And in my opinion, the Russians will interpret it in the same way.

According to Viktor Orban, the only question is what kind of retaliatory steps the Russians will take.

We have protected ourselves against economic countermeasures. A few weeks ago, I wrote a letter to Russia's President and asked him whether, there would be retaliatory steps if the EU were to take the frozen Russian assets, and whether, in taking those steps, the Russians would take into account how each country voted on this decision. I received a reply stating that, using all instruments of international law, there would be powerful countermeasures, and that they would take into account how each EU member state positioned itself on this issue,

PM Orban stated.

"So we Hungarians have protected ourselves, and we have made it clear, and I repeat it again now, that Hungary will not support the confiscation of the foreign exchange reserves, including frozen foreign exchange reserves, of any country, not only Russia, but any country. Hungary will never support this under any circumstances," the Prime Minister concluded.

Cover photo: Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a speech at the year-end business event of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ), the Hungarian Entrepreneurs’ Day, at Mupa on December 5, 2025 (Photo: MTI/Robert Hegedus)