Mailing of National Petition Starts This Week

The government’s initiative gives Hungarians the opportunity to make their voices heard. Through the national petition, they can say no to forcing Hungary to pay the costs of the Russia–Ukraine war. Prime Minister Viktor Orban presented the national petition last Saturday at the anti-war rally organized by the Digital Civic Circles, and mailing the questions will begin this week.

Hungary's government has launched a new political initiative called the national petition, aimed at strengthening the country’s position in debates within the European Union with broad social mandate. According to the government’s statement, Hungary will not take part in financing the Russia–Ukraine war, will not contribute to running the Ukrainian state over the next decade, and will not accept higher utility prices resulting from the war.

Through the national petition, Hungarians can make their voices heard (Source: Facebook)

Based on the cabinet’s communication, the petition goes beyond a single specific decision and, in a broader sense, defines the limits of the EU's financial commitments. According to the Hungarian government, shifting the costs of the war onto member states and citizens could bring serious long-term economic and social consequences. Therefore, such decisions cannot be made while ignoring national interests.

Standing Up For Hungarian Interests Through the National Petition

Through the national petition, Hungarians can say no to further financing of the Russia–Ukraine war, to having Ukraine’s state operations paid for by Hungary over the next ten years, and to raising utility prices because of the war. Last Saturday, at the Kaposvar stop of the anti-war rallies, Prime Minister Viktor Orban presented the three points of the national petition:

• Say no to financing the Russia-Ukraine war.
• Say no to ten years of financial support for Ukraine.
• Say no to war-induced increases in utility prices.

If Ukraine were now a member of the European Union, the EU would be in direct military conflict with Russia, Viktor Orban emphasized.

Ukraine must remain outside the European Union. Letting them in would be life-threatening and would mean a constant risk of war for Hungary,

he added.

As is known, the government decided to launch a national petition because the EU is ready to become indebted for the coming decades for the benefit of Ukraine, despite expecting a prolonged war. This is not only about a 90-billion-dollar loan. Ukraine is demanding an additional 800 billion dollars, and this is not even a loan, since European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that it would only be repaid from Russian war reparations. So far, the EU has given 193 billion dollars to Ukraine, which is three times more than Hungary has received in EU funds since 2004. As Viktor Orban said last week,

the European Union is betting on Ukraine winning this war against Russia on the front line, and Europe is providing financial support to this victorious Ukrainian war.

The Prime Minister stated that through the  national petition launched by the Hungarian government, every Hungarian now has the opportunity to say no to this. He stressed that the EU expects the Russian forces to be defeated by the Ukrainian army on the front line, that Russia will pay reparations, and that everyone will get their money back. "On this assumption, they are burning through hundreds of billions of euros of European taxpayers’ money in a situation where Europe has no money," he warned.

Gergely Gulyas, Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, announced at last week’s government briefing that the national petition would start in early February. "We do not want to pay more for gas and gasoline. We do not want to pay for the war. And we do not want to pay for Ukraine. The Hungarian Left, meaning the Tisza Party and the Democratic Coalition (DK), cannot say no to Brussels on important issues," the minister pointed out. Responding to a a question from Magyar Nemzet at the January 15 government briefing, he explained that 

the national petition is important because it concerns an issue above party politics. The decisions that the European Union wants to make, or the decisions that Ukraine wants to push through the European Commission, are extremely costly covering ten years, and they do not even include military costs.

Cover photo: Prime Minister Viktor Orban presents the national petition (Photo: Prime Minister’s General Department of Communications/Zoltan Fischer)