PM Orbán: Europe much stronger than Russia, we have nothing to be afraid of

The job of European diplomacy would have been stopping the war in Ukraine, but Brussels has become “irrelevant” by deciding not to negotiate, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told Italian commercial television channel ReteQuattro on Tuesday, during a two-day visit to Rome.

Reform needed in Brussels, says Orbán

Asked about his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and their shared positions and disagreements, Orbán said that though there were differences, they agreed on several key issues, including the view that the “Brussels power centre” was in need of reform.

Orbán said Brussels had “failed” on important issues affecting the everyday lives of Europeans, such as economic policy, the green transition, war and sanctions. He mentioned energy prices, which, he noted, were a key issue for Hungary.

He said the “Brussels bureaucrats” had made a “serious mistake”, with, among other things, the green transition, which he said was going against the industrial sector instead of cooperating with it. “This is harmful; we should stop here and reverse course,” he said.

As regards his disagreements with Meloni, Orbán noted that Hungary borders Ukraine, so its view on the war was different from Italy’s. Asked why he considered the European Union irrelevant, Orbán said Europe had failed to prevent the war in Ukraine.

Trump could have prevented the invasion

The job of European diplomacy would have been stopping the war, Orbán said. If Donald Trump had been the president of the United States at the time, rather than Joe Biden, the war would not have happened, he said, adding that Europe should still have done more, “and even now it isn’t”. He said another problem was that after the start of the war, Europe had shut down all diplomatic channels with Russia, making it impossible to stop the conflict.

Orbán said Brussels was becoming irrelevant by deciding not to negotiate. As a result, he said, the United States and Russia were not only negotiating about Ukraine, but also about the future of Europe’s defense structure, “exactly as it happened after the second world war”.

The prime minister added, at the same time, that the two warring sides were not enough to bring about peace, but a third player was needed. “The Europeans have withdrawn, so the only remaining player is [US President Donald] Trump, the first US president to devote himself to peace, and so we have to support him,” he said.

Impact of sanctions

Concerning the sanctions on Russia, Orbán said the decision on the matter was up to the bigger countries like Italy, Germany and France, rather than Hungary.

“It’s not the sanctions on Russia, but the impact of the sanctions on Hungarians that I’m concerned with,” Orbán said. Noting that Hungary has no coastlines where it could take delivery of LNG, he said it was impossible to heat Hungarian homes and run the economy without Russian energy imports.

He said Meloni also represented Italian national interests, underlining that “without proud nation states, Europe has no future”.

Europe much stronger than Russia

Meanwhile, Orbán said Europe was “much stronger” than Russia. Counting the United Kingdom, he said, the population of Europe is 450 million compared with around 140 million Russians, and Europe’s GDP and military budget also exceed those of Russia.

“The question is: if we’re stronger, what are we afraid of?” the prime minister said, adding that the answer was that “our leaders are lousy.” “If you’re strong, but don’t want to go to war — because none of us want to — you can only use your strength for negotiation, and yet we aren’t doing that,” he said.

Asked about Ilaria Salis, an Italian national who was arrested in Hungary before being elected MEP, Orbán said Hungary always welcomed Italians, except if they commit a crime.

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