Orbán offered Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine to talk about a ceasefire in Budapest
The Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance achieved its all-time best result in the general election, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Budapest on Wednesday.
As regards his government’s most urgent tasks, Orbán stressed the need to establish peace in Europe. The first step towards peace is a ceasefire, which should be followed by a European peace conference, he said. Orbán said this needed to happen as soon as possible, because
“the war is getting increasingly brutal”.
He said there was a risk that unless a ceasefire was agreed soon, “the suffering in that part of the world will continue”, and the suffering and problems would get closer to the core of Europe.
Orbán called for urgent measures to be implemented by Brussels to offset the effects of high energy prices.
- Read also: Orbán: ‘We see Hungary’s future in EU, NATO’
High energy prices are a consequence of the war in Ukraine and will remain so as long as the war continues, Orbán said, proposing the suspension of the EU’s administrative system “irrespective of the purpose of its introduction”. He also proposed suspending “the complicated system of taxing fossil energy” and the scheme of attaching the price of electricity to that of natural gas. Finally, he proposed scrapping the requirement to blend biofuel additives into fuels.
Speaking in broader terms, Orbán said “a serious economic crisis is unfolding for a number of reasons, with the major one being the sanctions applied on Russia”. “We are going to pay the price of it,” he said. Orbán stressed the need to handle the European economic crisis, adding that his government would “be able to do that and make every possible effort to protect Hungarian families”.
Orbán said he had telephone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and proposed immediate ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. Orbán also proposed early talks between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and France, as well as the chancellor of Germany in Budapest to reach an agreement on the ceasefire.
Orbán said Putin’s response had been positive, but also quoted the Russian president as saying that Russia had certain conditions for a ceasefire, which he should first discuss with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Source: MTI