PM Orbán: Putin is not a war criminal
Hungary’s leader, PM Orbán, gave an exclusive interview to the German Bild tabloid. Among other matters, he shared his opinion about the Russian–Ukrainian conflict. He also talked about Putin’s health.
PM Orbán was interviewed by the Ukrainian journalist of Bild, Paul Ronzheimer. Index reported that the Hungarian leader made his standpoint very clear this time. He thinks that Ukraine has no chance of winning the war. Giving arms to the country would only escalate the conflict instead of solving it. PM Orbán also gave his opinion on Putin’s power and whether he will stay in charge or not.
Wagner Group rebellion
According to Orbán, the Wagner Group rebellion was not a significant event. His opinion is based on the reports from the Hungarian intelligence. He thinks that the Hungarian intelligence is “more reliable than anything else”. Viktor Orbán does not think that the events weakened the Russian leader. Surely, the rebellion itself, that something like this can happen, could be viewed as a sign of weakness. But the fact that Putin was able to settle the conflict in less than 24 hours shows the real strength of the leader. The rebellion is over, the war continues. According to him, this event had no real potential of bringing peace. However, the most important thing is truce, and eventually, peace. He also said:
“Putin is the leader of Russia. If someone thinks that he could fail or can be removed, then that person does not understand the Russians nor the Russian power structure.”
The power of Russia
PM Orbán thinks that Putin is a strong leader, thus he will remain the President of Russia in 2024. Despite what people say, Russia’s power structure is still very stable. He said:
“Russia works differently from us. Its structures are very stable. They are based on the military, the secret service, the police, so it is a different kind of country than us, a military-oriented country. It is not like Germany or Hungary […]. So if we want to understand how it works according to our logic, we will be wrong.”
Friendship with Russia?
The interviewer asked Orbán why he is taking the side of Russians and becomes a friend of Putin if he was against the Soviets in 1989. PM Orbán said that this is not the case. He is fighting for his own nation, for Hungary. The Hungarian leader does not care about Putin, nor Russia. He only cares about what is best for Hungary, and obviously, the conflict is bad for Hungarians.
Putin is not a war criminal
The Hungarian leader also told Bild that the last time he spoke with Putin was weeks before the invasion. The interviewer asked Orbán if Putin would be captured in Hungary if he came to visit. PM Orbán thinks that this is very hypothetical because the Russian leader is not planning on doing so. He has also said that he does not consider Putin a war criminal. He elaborated on his opinion:
“Because we are at war. You can talk about war crimes after the war. If we want a ceasefire and negotiations, we must convince the parties of the conflict to sit down and negotiate.”
Ukraine will not win
The Hungarian leader thinks that it is impossible for Ukraine to win this war. Ukraine will run out of soldiers faster than Russia, and this is what matters at the end. Orbán says that peace is the most important thing. If the war goes on, the Ukrainians will lose a lot of money and many will die. He also added that Ukraine could no longer be considered a sovereign nation. He said:
“What matters most is what the US wants to do, because Ukraine is no longer a sovereign country, with no money or weapons of their own, and they can only go on fighting because we in the West support them, which means that if the Americans so decide that they want peace, there will be peace.”
Ukrainians had the right to decide whether to be involved in war
He said Ukrainians had the right to decide about their future and whether to be involved in war. “At the same time, we have the right to decide whether to give money and weapons — if that’s what the Americans want. But we want peace,” he said. “We will not give money or weapons to anybody, including the Ukrainians, because we want negotiations, and to forge peace and a ceasefire,” he added.
In response to a question concerning why Putin would stop at the border after victory and why would he not attack Poland and the Baltic countries, Orbán said the war in Ukraine “clearly showed that NATO is much stronger than Russia”. “Why would somebody who is weaker want to attack NATO,” he said. “It is obvious and clear that NATO is much stronger,” he added.
The war in Ukraine is “not our war” and it is exclusively the task of the Ukrainian people to decide on “questions appearing on the moral and historical horizon”, he said. “So my advice to them is: do what’s best for them, but as to what’s best for them, they should decide because Ukraine is an independent and proud country and nation,” he added.
In conclusion: Mr. Putin is just an all round pretty stand up guy!
Perhaps we should award him the Magyar Érdemrend (Hungarian Order of Merit) as well? Mr. Lavrov already has one – good way to show our ongoing appreciation (and perhaps reciprication!)
An unnecessary and very stupid statement.
Orban says “Hungarian intelligence is more reliable than anything else.” That part of Hungarian intelligence was so intelligent that they packed up and left the country. They now live in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. What is left is a PM who sold his country out to Putin and Russia dragging it down while making ludicrous claims about how good life is in Hungary under Fidesz. Every statement Orban makes just shows how deep he is in Putin’s pocket.
He’s right about most things but Putin IS a(n alleged) war criminal. That said, the entire internal legal regime underpinning the “war criminality” is a fanciful Western indulgence. It’s used to rake third-world tinpot dictators over the coals (e.g. Charles Taylor and a few Bosnian chieftains) while leaving the rich and powerful (and their proteges, such as Omar Bashir) untouchable. Putin will never stand trial in any court of law, that much is surely clear to everyone, so calling him names serves no purpose. P.S. The Wagner “rebellion” was hilarious. America gave Prigozhin $6billion (of taxpayers’ money, naturally) to betray Putin; bro took the cash and put on a show, and then played the C.I.A. for total fools. I wonder how many more mercenaries and military hardware 6 bil. will buy! LOL!
It is sarcasm. The necessary statement is that while I keep seeing billboards that paint the opposition as “pro war” and Victor as “pro peace” I think it should be clear that no one is pro war, but everyone should be anti Russian. They invaded a sovereign country and have been killing its citizens for over a year. This was not a “choice” of Ukraine, to say so would be to suggest that when the Russians came to Hungary in 1956 and killed our friends and relatives, it was our “choice”. I think that everything that Victor said in this interview as unnecessary and very stupid, giving oxygen to the arguement that Ukraine should just lay down arms and give itself to Putin. Would Victor do the same with Hungary?
Nothing to see, folks! Extensive and insightful:
https://youtu.be/dlhvb2e_Euc
Wouldn’t rely too much on “Hungarian Intelligence”… Flight stats showing the Russian political and oligarch set flying their private jets from Moscow to St. Petersburg is a bit of a giveaway, is it not?
The proxy war in Ukraine can be debated ad nauseum. Prime Minister Orban is right. In a war of attrition, the power with larger number of soldiers will win and as usual, the win removes all the guilt. Ukraine never was or is a democracy. The question was which particular Ukrainian dictator is easier to manipulate to achieve the Davos crowds’ aims.
As to the territorial integrity, borders continually change and new countries created on the whim of the foreign winners. A good example is Kosovo. Uniting ethnic Albanians with ethnic Serbs is one of the many mistakes resulted from naive American foreign policy. The same applies to Ukraine. Ancient Russian lands given to Ukraine, occupied by ethnic Russians was also a colossal mistake.
Homo Orbanicus, what a ridiculous 5XL puppet.
Talking “Elites” – data suggests there was a rush to get out of Moscow, all of a sudden, after Mr. Prigoschin’s little stunt:
https://charter97.org/en/news/2023/6/24/553250/
Regarding Mr. Prigoschin – he had a different explanation for the “special military operation”. Any comment, @mariavontheresa?
https://youtu.be/IvLiQysKPhQ
@MichaelSteiner – where did you pick up the CIA / Prigoschin plot theory? Curious!
I love how Mr Orbán doesn’t cuck to the globalists like almost every other leader in Europe.
Most people commenting here are falling for the lies though. It’s sad.
Please don’t make the same mistake again.
21st Century War Criminal west want to condamn:
Vladimir Putin
21st Century War Criminal west want to let untouch:
Georges W Buch
Barack Obama
François Hollande
Nicolas Sarkozy
Emmanuel Macron
Tony Blair
Boris Johnson
Angela Merkel
…
…
The list is long of leaders who order military attacks and kills civilians included women and children (as the western media love to underline) in name of vengeance, freedom, state of law and others lies. All is about influence and Orban is right, Today Ukraine is not a sovereign country it’s just a US tool to take back influence and market share to Russia. If USA want it the war stop tomorrow, if EU is so powerful they can take the strong smart sanctions they are taken and obtains Russia to get off the Ukrainian territory while there’s an armistice. I mean when I read the not propaganda wester media press, Joe Biden is a hero of the light right ? And Europe show an united strength that chase darkness ? So why the war continue ?
Sven Svensson – what a MORONIC outlook you have for the future of MANKIND, if you take the idiotic position, thinking Orban – is the Saver of Hungary and Europe and that Putin, is not a War Criminal.
Meanwhile in Krematorsk, Ukraine – yesterday: Russian missile hit a pizza restaurant packed with civilians. 10 people dead and among them were three teenagers, including a 17-year-old girl and 14-year-old twin sisters Yulia and Anna Aksenchenk. (source: CNN News)
Putin ordered to start this war. Putin gave the green light to his army to target civilians. Putin is a war criminal by all standards.
War crimes are defined as serious violations of humanitarian laws during a conflict. The definition, established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This agreement takes all the fun out of a war. Although Russia signed this agreement, it was never verified. It is not necessarily a war crime to bomb civilian areas, especially if units of soldiers are present in the area, the bombing there-by causing civilian collateral damage. It is true I did not read the whole agreement and I do not have a law degree it is evident that there are many exceptions. The US is another country that did not sing this agreement. I will leave it up to the lawyers to figure out whether Putin is a war criminal or whether the statute applies to countries that did not sign or verify the treaty.
Yes, I am still a big fan of Prime Minister Orban.
Justification, it is you who are making the same mistake as your parents and grand parents did. You buy the lies, all of it like a naive idiot. YOU should think about the future of mankind, because you’re aming towards EUSSR 2.0 and you have no clue what you’re doing.
…And neither was AH.
While we’re at it, let’s not even mention what the Russians were/are doing in Syria.
Putin us a War Criminal period.