Balazs Orban to Winston Marshall: The Liberal World Order Era Is Over

The Hungarian prime minister’s political director sat down with British political commentator Winston Marshall, former member of the famous Mumford & Sons band, to discuss what comes after the liberal world order and what it means for Europe and Hungary.

According to the prime minister's politial director, Hungary approaches this new international environment based on its own historical experience. For a country with a unique language, no access to the sea, and a history of living between great powers, preserving sovereignty is not an abstract principle but a precondition for survival.

He said this mindset is especially evident on the issue of migration. In the international debate, Western Europe is now grappling with an established reality, with political arguments centered on how to manage—or partially reverse—the consequences of decisions made over past decades.

Hungary, by contrast, started from the premise that the problem must be prevented,” Orban emphasized, pointing out that "the Western European experience shows mass immigration leads to parallel societies, long-term social tensions, and the failure of the promised economic benefits to materialize,

he stressd. 

The same line of thinking, he added, applies to Hungary’s view of the European Union and the war in Ukraine. “Europe is a community of nations, not an independent political center,” Mr. Orban said. “When Brussels tries to force decisions through ideologically driven means, using financial and legal tools, that is not cooperation—it is political pressuring.”

The war in Ukraine," he argued, "is the most severe consequence of this approach: a failed strategy that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, weakened Europe economically, and carries constant risks of escalation. Hungary’s position is clear: victory cannot be defined by prolonging or escalating the war, but by stopping the killing and bringing the conflict to an end,

the political director emphasized.

The full conversation can be seen on The Winston Marshall Show YouTube channel and on Substack.

Cover photo: Winston Marshall, political commentator, and Balazs Orban, political director to the Hungarian prime minister (Photo: Facebook/Balazs Orban)