Orbán: In times like this “strategic composure” and unity is necessary

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said “strategic composure is necessary in time of war” in an interview with public news channel M1 on Sunday.

Orbán reiterated his position that Hungary must “concentrate efforts on staying out of this armed conflict”, noting that the country took the same stand during the Kosovo War in 1999 and the Crimean conflict in 2015.

He said Hungary, as a neighbour of Ukraine, must avoid the situation of “confusion, anxiousness and hasty and rash decisions” common in time of war. “Strategic composure. That’s what’s necessary now,” he added.

He urged caution against all “rushed, off-the-cuff” decisions, that “may sound popular, but have unanticipated consequences” and pointed to the Hungarian left wing’s proposal to send troops to the war zone as an example of a “lack of strategic patience”.

“There is no need for that, just as there is no need to urge Hungary to send weapons to the region,” he said. “We’re a neighbouring country, and those weapons might be used to shoot at Hungarians, as Hungarians live in Transcarpathia, too,” Orbán added.

Orbán said the Hungarian Army has all of the weapons it needs to defend the country’s eastern border, if necessary. He noted that Hungary started to develop its defence industry several years earlier, but “the factories are only now being built”.

“Even if it wanted to, Hungary couldn’t put military equipment at the disposal of others, but it doesn’t want to,” he added.

He said Hungary’s defence industry developments were launched “in preparation for peace”, adding that the coming decade would be about “who can ensure security for their own country and the everyday lives of their own people”.

Orbán said every refugee arriving from Ukraine must be assisted and “can be assured they will be welcomed by friends in Hungary”. Assisting refugees from Ukraine is an “elementary human, Christian instinct”, he added.

Commenting on the show of support for the refugees by Hungarians, Orbán said Hungary “is a good country, with good people”.