Orbán: Ukraine cannot win!

Hungary “understands” the suffering of warn-torn Ukraine, but there is no chance of a military victory in the war against Russia, and so a ceasefire and peace talks are needed instead of escalating the war, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told an economic forum in Doha on Tuesday.

Hungary’s viewpont of the war differs from that of the European mainstream because it is a neighbour of Ukraine, which has a sizeable Hungarian minority, Orbán said in a discussion with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait. Many of those Hungarians have lost their lives in the war, he added. “This war is the failure of diplomacy. It should have never happened,” he said. The main question is not “who invaded whom” but to save the lives that would be lost if the war continues, Orbán said. After a ceasefire is negotiated, the issue of a new “security architecture of the European continent” should also be on the agenda, he said.

Orbán to the US Democrats: “Don’t educate us, don’t say what is good or bad”

American Democrats are far more ideologically led than the Republicans, and Democrats “like to convince you and sometimes force you how to live,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a business forum in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. “I don’t like it. We have our own culture, the culture defines how we live, don’t interfere, please!” Orbán said. “Don’t educate us, don’t say what is good or bad… we don’t like that. It’s not your job.” No nation should tell Hungarians how to live their lives, he said. Republican President Donald Trump “understands” that, he added.

Ukraine ‘shouldn’t blacklist’ Hungarian companies if eyeing support

If Ukraine is expecting financial support from Hungary, it should refrain from blacklisting its companies, Orbán said on Tuesday, referring to the Ukrainian decision to blacklist Hungary’s OTP Bank as an “international supporter of war”. Orbán told a business forum in Doha, Qatar, that the country should “respect us more” if it is eyeing support with Hungarian contribution, “which for them is inevitable”.

Answering a question on Hungary “not being keen” on Sweden’s NATO accession, Orbán said political relations between Hungary and Sweden were “awfully wrong”. “We would not like to import conflicts into NATO”, and they should be solved before Sweden joined the alliance, he said. Regarding the EU’s decision to withhold funding for Hungary, Orbán said that differences of opinion regarding “decoupling” concerning the bloc’s policy vis-a-vis Beijing and its handling of the Ukraine war were at the root of the decision. Unlike the EU, Hungary stands for connectivity, and strengthening commercial and political ties, he said.

Chinese investments offer a “huge opportunity”. “Why should we miss it?” Orbán said. Whether China becomes a long-term opponent or partner of the West is “our decision”, Orbán said. Hungary’s LNG purchases from Qatar, which Orbán announced on Monday, are expected to start in 2026, he said. Besides energy security, Hungary also sees Qatar as a potential partner in agriculture, information technology and security, he said. Christian and Muslim countries can find common ground along traditional values such as God, the nation and the family, he said.

Regarding the upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant, under way under a contract with Russian state-owned Rosatom, Orbán said acting along national interests in Europe quickly resulted in being branded pro-Russian. But, Orbán added, he stood for Hungary and Hungarian national interests. Orbán travelled to Doha on Sunday on an official visit at the invitation of his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. Finance Minister Mihaly Varga and Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy were part of the delegation, MTI wrote.

Hungarian foreign minister: ‘The sooner there is peace, the more lives can be saved’

The sooner there is peace, the more lives can be saved, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Tuesday. He said that the “pro-war mainstream” had mounted a heavy attack on the Hungarian prime minister over remarks he delivered at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha earlier in the day. In his speech, Viktor Orban called for a ceasefire and peace talks instead of escalating the war in Ukraine. Hungary’s viewpoint of the war differs from that of the European mainstream because it is a neighbour of Ukraine, which has a sizeable Hungarian minority, Orban said in a discussion with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait. Many of those Hungarians have lost their lives in the war, he added. “This war is the failure of diplomacy. It should have never happened,” he said.

Szijjártó, in a post on Facebook, said that “the past several months have proven unfortunately that there will be only losers, no winners of the war next door”. “The longer this war drags on, the greater number of losers it is going to have,” he added. Szijjártó called saving lives the most important immediate task and urged for help to be provided which he said was impossible without peace. “The sooner there is peace, the more lives can be saved,” he said, adding that “the prime minister spoke clearly which is obviously unpleasant for those who support war”.

Fidesz MEP: Hungarian farmers must not be made to pay price of help to Ukraine

The fact that Ukraine is currently unable to safely export agricultural products must not result in Hungarian farmers paying the price of aid offered to war-torn Ukraine, at a time when they are unable to sell their own produce, Hungarian MEP Enikő Győri said on Tuesday. She told Hungarian journalists at the scene of a protest organised by farmers from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania in Brussels that an agreement had been signed with the European Commission concerning the imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. The agreement required the affected countries to join forces and farmers to make their voices heard in order to make the Brussels body keep its promise.

The Commission must address the issue, Győri said, arguing that “it cannot depend on the war in Ukraine whether the grain stored by Hungarian farmers remains in their stores unsold and whether Ukrainian agricultural goods get to those in need in Africa and other parts of the world”. MEP Balázs Hidvéghi said in a statement that it was “unacceptable” that the EC had forced poorly prepared and ill-conceived measures on member states, causing serious damage to farmers in central Europe. He noted massive support provided to the Ukrainian state and its people. He called on the European Commission “to pay a lot more attention to the protection of the European people’s interests”. “We will not allow our farmers to be pushed to the brink of collapse because of their irresponsible decision,” Hidvéghi said.

Hungary’s agriculture ministry issued a statement, saying that it supports the farmers who went to stage a protest in Brussels. In the statement, Agriculture Minister István Nagy praised the farmers “calling on the European Union to take the steps against the influx of Ukrainian grain seriously and to extend the ban until the end of the year”.