PM Orbán says Christmas ceasefire and large-scale POW swap are realistic

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Thursday that there was no consensus within the European Union regarding the war in Ukraine, so everything had to be done in connection with the war within the framework of bilateral diplomacy and not on behalf of the Hungarian EU presidency.

Ceasefire at Orthodox Christmas?

Orbán told a joint press conference with President of the European Council Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen after the EU summit in Brussels that the Ukraine war was the most important political issue but he had essentially no room for maneuvering on the matter because there was no consensus in the EU and it was therefore not possible to act on behalf of the European Council.

“So everything that could be done in the issue of the war had to be done independently from the presidency, not under the presidency’s framework. Actually under the arrangements of bilateral diplomacy,” Orbán said.

Orbán said much had been done, for instance a proposal for a Christmas ceasefire which had been presented outside the framework of the presidency.

In response to a question, he said he was aware that everyone wanted lasting peace and was thinking along the line of greater geopolitical context but Hungary had its own limits such as its size and its international influence corresponded to that.

He said he could see no obstacle to preventing the death of people in the frontline during the two or three days of Orthodox Christmas and to an agreement between the sides about the exchange of 700 prisoners from each side.

He added that this might be a small achievement compared to geopolitical goals, but if a few thousand fewer people die during Christmas, and if a few hundred or thousand fathers can return home to their families, it will be a European value.

We must take back leadership from the generals

Answering another question, Orbán said that he had seen in the past three years that there was no solution to the war on the battlefield. “I have seen some combative statements, military maneuvers, new weapons, hundreds of thousands dying, hundreds of thousands getting crippled, and who knows how many widows and orphans,” he added. Orbán said it was time for diplomacy to take back leadership from the generals, otherwise the war will not end within the foreseeable future.

In response to a question about how Donald Trump would end the Russia-Ukraine war as US president “in 24 hours”, Orbán said he had no authorisation to talk about the plans of other leaders. He said he had personally met Trump in the past two weeks, had a very long discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and also met the president of Turkiye. He added that “even if everyone has something on their mind” he could only speak about his own plans.

Assessing the Hungarian presidency coming to an end on December 31, Orbán expressed thanks to von der Leyen and the EC for their excellent cooperation, and said that they had been able to put aside all political disputes in order to advance important matters. He also expressed thanks to Costa and his predecessor Charles Michel, saying that they had also done much in the interest of success.

Hungary’s political presidency

Orbán said there had been unprecedented security challenges in the past six months, with wars in Ukraine, in the Middle East and Africa, with a permanent danger of escalation. Illegal migration and its consequences threaten with the disintegration of the Schengen area, and economic indicators show that the EU is losing its global competitiveness, falling increasingly behind the main economic competitors.

In the meantime, the other global players have ambitious plans, with “some wanting to stay great and some wanting to become great”. As a result, Orbán said it had been decided that Hungary would operate a political presidency and not a bureaucratic one. He added that a great amount of work had been invested in the past six months, with the entire Hungarian state apparatus working to ensure that progress was being made.

In terms of competitiveness, Orbán said the Budapest declaration deserved historic attention considering that it calls for “a revolutionary streamlining”, affordable energy, supporting SMEs, and sets deadlines for the fulfillment of each task.

Orbán said another important point of the Hungarian presidency was that ministers responsible for demographic challenges met for the first time in the EU’s history to discuss the future of Europe’s demographics.

He also said that progress had been made in enlargement policy in the Western Balkans which had been blocked for a long time, talks could be started with Albania, three intergovernmental conferences were held and the organisation of an intergovernmental conference with Serbia is within reach.

Romania, Bulgaria Schengen accession huge success, says Orbán

The Hungarian prime minister noted that a decision about the full membership of Bulgaria and Romania in the EU’s Schengen zone had been made under the Hungarian presidency. The issue he said had been on the agenda for the past thirteen years and Hungary had held talks over six months with countries that had opposed the integration of the two countries. As a result, the full integration of the two countries will take effect on January 1, he said.

The current Hungarian presidency was the first occasion that 27 agriculture ministers managed to reach an agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy’s future, he said.

Orbán said that “we have also managed to adopt a declaration on fighting anti-Semitism and promoting Jewish life”. The declaration establishes that there is an alarmingly high-level of anti-Semitism in the EU and the community has a shared responsibility to make every possible effort towards reducing it, he said.

Orbán said that he became increasingly convinced over the past six months that the only possible way to the success, even the survival, of the European Union was if the EU makes itself more ambitious and undertakes “great things”.

“The Hungarian presidency’s slogan to make Europe great again was not a joke,” the prime minister said, adding that this was the only way for the EU to regain its competitiveness and to survive.

Asked about transatlantic cooperation, Orbán said there was full agreement at the summit that the future and security of Europe depended heavily on whether transatlantic cooperation could be maintained.

As regards the inauguration of the new US president on January 20, Orbán’s advice to the EU was to have “strategic patience and calm”, suggesting that “they should do nothing that would make future strategic cooperation within transatlantic relations more difficult”.

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