2024-10-09 00:15:56
The European Union’s current approach to Russian aggression in Ukraine is not successful, and the international community should try to force both sides to negotiate a ceasefire. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said this at a press conference in the European Parliament. He repeated his position that Ukrainians cannot win on the battlefield.
Orbán spoke to journalists in Strasbourg ahead of his appearance at the EP plenary session on Wednesday, where he will officially present the priorities of the Hungarian presidency, which began on July 1.
At the beginning of the press conference, the Hungarian Prime Minister reminded that his country’s presidency of the EU Council is already the second. Even the first one in 2011 took place when Orbán was already prime minister.
“I already have a third presidency in my diary,” joked Orbán, whose performance was briefly interrupted at the beginning by a Hungarian opposition activist. Orbán emphasized that already during the first Hungarian presidency, the EU faced a number of problems, but now Europe is facing even greater crises. He mentioned the energy crisis or the war in Ukraine and other conflicts outside the EU, which have an impact on the whole world, including Europe.
“Europe is losing its competitiveness… it is facing its biggest challenges so far,” Orbán said. In this context, he also mentioned the recent statement of French President Emmanuel Macron, who during his visit to Germany declared that the EU is over-regulated and under-invests, and warned that if the union does not do something within two to three years, “it may die”.
The migration crisis is not over
Orbán said he believes in the EU and its future and wants to change it in order to survive. According to him, the recipe is, among other things, ensuring the competitiveness of European industry and promoting an agrarian policy that is more friendly to farmers. According to him, security is key. In this context, the Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized the protection of external borders and stopping illegal migration.
“The migration crisis has not ended since 2015,” Orbán recalled, the year when the EU experienced a large wave of migration. “At the time they said I was an idiot, but in the end they agree with me,” he said of the policy of so-called hotspots (refugee processing centers) set up outside the EU. He added that migrants’ asylum applications should be processed outside the EU and only migrants with a permit should be allowed into the EU. The wave of migration also contributes to the spread of anti-Semitism, violence against women and homophobia, Orbán repeated his long-standing position.
The Hungarian Prime Minister also emphasized again that “Europe is not in Brussels or Strasbourg”, but in Rome, Prague and Budapest, among others. “My motto is Hungary first, for you it’s Germany first, but then we have to sit down and reconcile our interests. That should be EU policy, not to say shut up,” he replied to a German journalist. Another problem, according to Orbán, is that the EU sees the EU institutions as the main ones. “When problems come, institutions will not help, what is needed are strong, elected leaders,” the Hungarian prime minister also said.
Opponent of military aid to Ukraine
Orbán, who has been in dispute with the EU institutions on various fronts for a long time, is the most vocal opponent of military aid to Ukraine among the leaders of the G27. The Hungarian government repeatedly blocks it in the EU Council and also often criticizes anti-Russian sanctions.
Speaking to reporters in Strasbourg, the Hungarian prime minister said he wanted to persuade his EU counterparts to change their strategy. “When you can’t win on the battlefield, diplomacy has to come,” Orbán said at the time of the ongoing Russian advance in eastern Ukraine. He expressed the opinion that the Ukrainians cannot defeat Russia more than a year ago.
According to Orbán, both Kyiv and Moscow are ready to continue the fight because leaders on both sides are convinced that time is on their side. “But our interest is a ceasefire,” he said. He did not specify whether, according to him, Ukraine should give up the occupied territory.
When asked by a journalist what will happen in Brussels if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election, Orbán replied that he would personally open the champagne. According to Orbán, however, the EU’s approach to transatlantic cooperation under the new American government will be discussed.