PM Orbán: war in Ukraine can only be lost with Zelensky’s plan

The war in Ukraine cannot be won using the victory plan of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “we can only lose with this”, and Hungary will not be a part of it, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday.

Danger of war in Europe is near, says Orbán

Orbán said the EU was split into two groups on the war: “there is us and the others”. Hungary had said at the start of the war that it would not participate in the war effort, “while the rest of the EU countries are in it”, he said. While the EU is not in direct conflict with Russia, it is behaving like a warring party, Orbán said, adding that Hungary had made it clear at the beginning that this was a flawed strategy, “this war cannot be won, we need negotiations”.

The aim should be as swift an end to the war as possible “so as few as possible die, so Ukraine loses as little territory as possible, and Hungary and Europe can return to peaceful life … so we don’t have to burn billions of dollars and euros in this war, so we don’t have to impose sanctions and ruin European trade and the energy system, creating soaring energy prices and inflation…” Orbán said.

Photo: MTI

“And now, the other 26 countries of the EU are hearing in amazement that President Zelensky has a victory plan. Why, what did he have so far?” “What they had for a plan so far turned out to be a plan for defeat, and they are now trying to replace it with a victory plan,” Orbán said, adding that Hungary would not participate in that. Commenting on press reports on Ukraine planning to develop a nuclear bomb, Orbán said what he had heard from Zelensky “did not sound like Ukraine seriously thought they could develop into a nuclear power”. At the same time, “the possibility alone is frightening,” he said.

“Everyone feels” that the danger of the war erupting in Europe is near, and that is a fertile soil for “such half-information”, Orbán said. Secret services are working on ascertaining whether Ukraine has such plans, he added.

Brussels want to appoint their own Hungarian government

On EU politics, Orbán said the Europe envisioned by the European People’s Party would be bad for Hungarians, adding that Brussels wanted to appoint a government of its own to replace the current Hungarian administration.

Commenting on an image released by the EPP featuring the prime minister with text that reads “Time to go”, Orbán said that one of the reasons behind this could be Hungary’s position on the war. Orbán noted that he had proposed that the German chancellor and the French president begin talks with the Russians “either on their own or Europe’s behalf before the Americans arrive on the scene”.

PM Orbán and President Macron. Photo: MTI

He said the EPP “took things up a notch” in the last European Parliament debate where it had announced that it wanted to replace Hungary’s government with one belonging to their own grouping so that it could “pursue policies that are to Brussels’ liking, like taking in migrants, entering the war, accepting gender ideology and scrapping the child protection regime in Hungary”.

Orbán said the EPP also had “a lot of economic demands”, such as that Hungary should not “tax their multinationals or torment their banks”. Hungarians will decide on their leaders at the next elections, “until then, we need to work rather than campaign and ensure the success of our non-Brusselite policies in economics and foreign affairs,” Orbán said.

Russian position improved, Ukraine’s worsened

Since the start of the war, Russia’s position had improved and Ukraine’s worsened, “so it’s a good idea that we should negotiate from a position of strength, but we are weak; the victory plan is about us becoming strong at some point, but we’re losing the war right now.”

While all European countries have a war strategy, Hungary has a peace strategy, Orbán said, calling for a “peace or at least a ceasefire, and concluding the conflict with the smallest possible losses and the best possible perspectives.”

Orbán said the EU was currently facing the biggest challenges in areas that Hungary had found answers to, pointing to migration, the utility price caps and the war in Ukraine as examples. “What we are doing in Hungary is more or less what the European people would like to see at home, but their governments are doing the opposite.”

With the leaders of the Patriots for Europe. Photo: MTI

Everyone in Europe today oppose migration

Orbán said everyone in Europe today opposed migration, and apart from European governments no “normal person” supported it. “They’d give an arm for conditions related to migration to be the way they are in Hungary,” he added.

“But there’s no migration crisis here because we don’t let [migrants] in while they’re banging their head against a wall thinking how could they have been so careless to let in millions of migrants whom they can’t do anything about now, and they just keep coming,” the prime minister said.

He said the situation was similar when it came to utility prices, with Europeans asking how it was possible that Hungarian families had the lowest electricity and gas bills.

Meanwhile, when it came to the Russia-Ukraine war, Europeans, he said, were asking why it was that their own governments were “up to their neck in the war” while Hungary was pro-peace like most of the European people.

Orbán said Hungary served as an example for Europeans in opposition to their own governments, which left those governments in an uncomfortable situation.

He said he tried “not to provoke” the other European governments on this issue “so that they leave us alone”, but European leaders felt “that this is not merely about Hungary, but also that they could make changes to their Europe policy, economic policy, military policy, energy policy and migration policy”.

Hungary needs to pursue its own economic policy

“The biggest problem with us is that we’re successful,” he said, citing the examples of economic growth and the issue of migration.

Orbán said this meant that Hungary “unwittingly poses a challenge to EU countries with bad policies”, and this also increased Hungary’s weight in the bloc. Noting that he met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week and is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron the next, Orbán said “Hungary’s way of doing things and its success clearly increases its weight in foreign affairs.”

“I think our influence is greater than what the country’s size and actual economic and military strength would warrant,” he said.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said the next National Consultation surveying Hungarians on issues related to the economy would allow the foundations of a new economic policy to be laid.

Orbán said Hungary needed to pursue its own economic policy and augured “amazing” macroeconomic data in the first quarter of 2025. He added that the government’s 21-point action plan would give new impetus to the economy.

New National Consultation

He said Europe could not or did not want to adapt to the changing world, but Hungary, which could adapt quickly, had adopted a policy of economic neutrality that would put it ahead in the race, if that policy was affirmed in the National Consultation.

He acknowledged that a new economic policy came with difficulties, some risk and much work, and said digging in would require Hungarians’ support for pursing a policy that was particular to the country’s own needs.

Orbán said that in the event of a war, the government’s economic policy plans would “stay in the desk drawer”. He said they were “praying and rooting” for former US president Donald Trump’s victory in next month’s presidential election, and they trusted that Hungary could avert getting dragged into the war.

Orbán said another foundation of the government’s economic policy was keeping Hungary “a migrant-free area”. He said migration did not just come with a threat of terrorism, crime and tensions, but also cost a lot. He added that Hungary had been fined by Brussels for not letting in migrants, but letting them in would be a far greater financial burden.

Orbán also noted the government’s plans to introduce wage hikes, make housing cheaper, doubling family tax breaks for children, and support for small and medium-sized businesses.

Europe’s competitiveness deteriorated

He said the new economic policy would have a noticeable impact on everyday life next year if Hungarians gave it their backing in the public survey.

Orbán said that while Europe’s competitiveness had deteriorated recently, China’s and the US’ had improved, but Europe was responding with isolation and tariffs. The prime minister said this was the wrong approach, and Hungary’s economic policy was based on connectivity and trade neutrality.

“We must trade and compete with everyone and find a way to participate in every competitive international company; and we must cooperate so that Hungary can also get a share of the large amount of economic profits generated in the world,” Orbán said.

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