Blind to Reality: Ruszin-Szendi Downplays War Risks to Hungary

Following in the footsteps of the Tisza Party president, the party’s defense expert has now also launched what critics describe as a duplicitous campaign on the issue of war. While Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi routinely praises the war decisions of EU leaders in Brussels and Western governments, he simultaneously attempts to downplay the danger of war. Most recently, he claimed that Hungary faces no war threat because, he says, no one intends to attack the country.

After dismissing the Hungarian government’s objections to Western leaders potentially sending European troops to Ukraine as mere “fearmongering,” Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi—Tisza Party defense expert—has now gone even further, openly asserting that there is no war threat facing Hungary at all, according to an article by Ellenpont.

The outlet quotes the Tisza politician as saying:

The war has no relevance whatsoever. I usually say that for a war to exist, you need two sides: one that attacks and one that is attacked. Does Hungary want to attack anyone? I’m not saying that. It’s not in the National Security Strategy—there is no enemy. Why would we attack anyone? Right? Does anyone want to attack us? There’s no talk of that anywhere. So what war are we even talking about?

According to Ruszin-Szendi, then, there is effectively no war, and it is entirely unnecessary for the government to warn about the risks of escalation. This position, however, places the Tisza politician—known for ending his NATO speeches with the slogan “Slava Ukraini!”—in open contradiction with himself. Just days earlier, he was enthusiastically praising the successes of the war conference in Paris.

 

The Tisza Party Thinks War Is Good—But That Must Be Concealed

The Paris agreement lauded by Ruszin-Szendi involved decisions by French, British, and German leaders to deploy armed forces and establish military command centers in Ukraine. Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto warned that with this move, Europe’s two nuclear powers decided to back Ukraine not only with weapons, but with troops—risking the spread of war across the entire continent.

Following Ruszin-Szendi’s video, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also spoke openly about sending troops to the war zone. Ellenpont adds that, in his own way, Ruszin-Szendi has joined this war preparation himself—having previously argued that Hungarian youth should be conscripted if trouble arises, since, in his view, conscription was never abolished, only suspended.

Notably, last year the Tisza Party’s official responsible for military preparedness declared on video:

We didn’t abolish conscription, we only suspended it—so if there’s trouble, everyone will be pulled in immediately.

Ruszin-Szendi later reaffirmed this stance on another occasion, stating on a recording uncovered by Ellenpont that “if things go south, everyone will be mobilized.”

Ruszin-Szendi Fails to Mention the Open War Preparations in Western Europe

The outlet also points out that in recent years several European countries have fully or partially reinstated conscription. Germany is a key example: as of January 1 this year, a semi-mandatory draft has come into force. While the system relies on volunteers, if not enough come forward, eligible young people will be selected by lottery from a national database.

• Croatia also introduced mandatory two-month military training for men starting January 1. 
• In Denmark, compulsory service was extended from four to eleven months beginning in 2026, and from July 1, 2025, women are also required to participate in the conscription process. 
• In Latvia, conscription for men was reintroduced in 2023 following the outbreak of the war, and a public debate has already begun about drafting women as well.

Source: Ellenpont

In earlier articles, Ellenpont has compiled numerous pro-war statements from European political figures. One example is Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP)—of which the Tisza Party is a member—who said last May that the European Union was ready to replace U.S. funding for Ukraine should Donald Trump return to the White House.

In December, Weber also declared his support for deploying German troops to help “secure the Ukrainian peace process.” “I would like to see European flags on the soldiers’ uniforms as they secure peace together with our Ukrainian friends,” he told Funke Mediengruppe.

Shortly after taking office, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz authorized deep-strike attacks against Russia using German-supplied weapons. In May 2025, Merz announced: “There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine—neither by the British, nor the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans. This means Ukraine can defend itself by striking military positions inside Russia.”

According to Ellenpont, it is precisely these alarming developments that Ruszin-Szendi Romulusz is attempting to distract from with his false narratives. The outlet argues that leaders within the Tisza Party have realized their overt service to the interests of Brussels and Kyiv has become politically damaging in Hungary. This mirrors the now-infamous admission by party vice president Zoltan Tarr at a forum in Etyek, where he said they cannot tell voters all of their plans—or they would lose.

As Ellenpont explains, Ruszin-Szendi—who otherwise openly discusses military force—has now been instructed to pretend the war does not even exist.

Cover photo: Peter Magyar, Tisza Party president, and Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the party's defense expert (Photo: MW)