Hungarian defence minister: Most important thing is peace
Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky told the Budapest Security Dialogue conference on Friday that Europe “is strangely consumed by war fever”, even though “the most important thing is peace.”
Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at the second day of the conference held together with a defence industry expo in Budapest: “Everyone is talking about the war, yet peace is our greatest treasure.”
The conference was highlighting the importance of European defence capabilities, the minister said, adding that central Europe and the Western Balkans “must raise their voices in that very important question.”
Regarding the war in Ukraine, Szaly-Bobrovniczky said the conflict was constantly “carrying the threat of escalation”. The war, he said, was at a critical point: “the West has decided that the conflict should be globalised, and it has now reached all corners of the world”. The Russian aggressor’s army, meanwhile, has been boosted so that “we don’t know who could stop it”, the Hungarian defence minister said.
The only solution would be an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, he added.
The Hungarian defence minister said the conflict in Israel should be “watched carefully and handled responsively”, as it also threatens world trade.
Further, a lack of security, uncertainty and war are also at the root of terrorism and migration, he said.
Hungary can’t afford not to be strong, he said. While the country is a member of NATO, which is “the ultimate security guarantee”, it cannot rely exclusively on external help, he said. Hence the extremely robust military development plan, he added.
Meanwhile, Europe must do more for its own safety, he said. The EU’s enlargement would be the best way of boosting security at the Western Balkans, he added.
Slovak Defence minister Robert Kalinak agreed that European integration was key to peace and stability, and lamented that Western Balkans integration was lagging behind.
The EU promised integration to Western Balkans countries in 2003, but Croatia was the only one to become a member so far, he added, and welcomed that the topic was returning to the EU’s agenda.
Kalinak also said Hungarian-Slovak cooperation was the best yet, “and the key to that success is to concentrate only on topics we agree on.”
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The Russian aggressor’s army has been boosted so that “we don’t know who could stop it” says the Hungarian defence minister in a completely impotent statement. Leave that kind of statement for Orban or Szijjarto to say but that kind of impotent defeatism coming from the lips of a defence minister of any country is a complete disgrace which points to Hungary’s alliance with Russia. The EU and the US have economic capacity which is many times the size of Russia’s. It is a matter of will and a matter of not caving into Russia’s nuclear blackmail threats which Fidesz constantly amplifies. A ceasefire and peace talks would be nice but Russia is bent on subjugation of Ukraine and peace talks would be as successful with Putin as they would be with Hitler. Ukraine would have been in a much better position today if all possible assistance would have been provided from day one but the Fidesz government has obstructed EU assistance at every step of the way. Russia is burning the furniture to keep its’ war effort going and all the EU needs to do is ramp up weapons production and get assistance out the door to Ukraine. If Russia is successfully pushed back in Ukraine it will serve to deflate further Russian ideas of conquest in Europe and send a message to other potential aggressors that they will face strong opposition. Europe has no choice but to protect itself from Russia and you are a fool if you only start your defence at your front door and not in Ukraine.