Russia

No surprise, Hungary also criticises the 13th EU sanctions package against Russia

All elements of the European Union’s 13th package of sanctions against Russia that would harm Hungarians interests “have been weeded out”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Monday.

The package was “for show” and did not promote peace, Szijjártó told a press conference after a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council. The only reason for the new sanctions in the process of being finalised “is that the bloc can now say they did something ahead of the second anniversary of the war”, he added.

In the past weeks, the Hungarian government “has weeded out the measures that may have harmed Hungarian interests,” he said, according to a ministry statement.

Hungary’s fundamental economic interests are not harmed by the package, he said. “But there is a bigger problem: the EU is further pursuing a completely failed strategy, which takes us farther away from peace rather than taking us nearer,” he said.

Hungary will continue to strip any elements that may harm its interests, should further sanctions be proposed, he added.

“The sanctions packages have harmed European competitiveness while improving that of other players in the world economy. That’s a double failure, double disadvantage and double mistake. It would be good if colleagues in Brussels could draw the conclusions,” he said.

He said the EU was “still gripped by war psychosis”, and the majority refused to change its failed strategy.

“It has become clear that there is no solution to the situation on the battlefield,” he said.

“Ukraine is now drafting younger and younger conscripts, which raises the question: who is going to survive this war, who will participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction?”

He urged a ceasefire and peace talks. Hungary has once again refused to take part in delivering weapons to Ukraine, he added.

According to one proposal, the European Peace Facility would be extended by another five billion euros to finance military equipment, he said.

“We made it clear we wouldn’t participate in joint actions aimed at weapons deliveries, and will refrain from blocking such a decision only if it does not impose any duties on us, financial or otherwise,” he said.

Szijjártó said that thanks to a change in the rules of abstention, Hungary’s part of those five billion euros would not finance materiel.

Hungary will have the opportunity to determine the use of those monies, which could be ploughed into the fight against migration or strengthening stability in the Western Balkans, he said.

While Hungary will not stop other member states in making their own decisions, the government thinks weapon deliveries would only prolong war and suffering, he said.

Szijjártó also touched on upcoming talks on the extension of tariff exemptions on Ukrainian produce. Hungary’s government has banned 23 Ukrainian types of produce on its own authority and will maintain that ban should the measure be extended beyond June, he said.

Will Russian embassy’s street in Budapest be named after Alexei Navalny?

That is what the former presidential candidate of the opposition parties, a jurist and university professor, László Majtényi proposed after the alleged death of Putin’s biggest adversary, Alexei Navalny.

“Alleged” because even his wife and mother do not want to believe that Alexei Navalny is dead. The world was informed of the Russian opposition leader’s death yesterday evening by the Russian prison authorities.

The Hungarian government parties have not yet reacted, and we do not believe they will do so.

Leftist opposition parties expressed their grief, indignation, and shock one after the other.

Anna Donáth, the chairwoman of the second biggest leftist opposition party, the Momentum Movement, said she ran out of words. She added nobody could terrify him, and he was the victim of a show trial and unbearable prison conditions. She highlighted his murderer is illiberal Russia, referring to Orbán’s illiberalism, a category the Hungarian prime minister talked about first in 2015 and defined his government as illiberal.

Former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány, the leader of the most supported Hungarian opposition party, the Democratic Coalition, wrote that he shook hands with a murderer since Putin has become one. He added it was shameful that the Hungarian government became an ally of that monster.

Navalny Street in Budapest would not be exceptional

László Majtényi, a former presidential candidate of the leftist opposition in 2017, said Budapest should rename a section of Bajza Street between the Aradi and Andrássy Streets after Navalny, telex.hu wrote.

The street is in the 6th district, which has opposition leadership. The mayor is Tamás Soproni, a former leader of Momentum.

In 2021, Gergely Karácsony, the lord mayor of Budapest, and Krisztina Baranyi, the mayor of the 9th district, renamed several streets around the territory of the planned Fudan University in the 9th district. As a result, the new Fudan Campus’s address would have been the Avenue of Uyghur Martyrs 2. But several other street names were created like Free Hong Kong, Bishop Xie Shiguang and Dalai Lama.

Following some good-sounding grandiose announcements, the Fudan project halted, but the street names remained.

Therefore, the leader of the 6th district has every right to make the Russian Embassy’s address Navalny Street 2 in Budapest.

Of course, there is no telling what consequences such a move would have.

Read also:

Hungarian government does not see Russia as a security threat to any NATO member – Read more HERE
Putin about Hungarian re-annexation of Ukraine’s Transcarpathia in Tucker Carlson-interview – Details in THIS article

February 17, 2024

State secretary Kovács: Hungarian government policy not influenced by Western media

Hungarian government policy is not influenced by what is said about it in the Western media, the state secretary for international communication and relations told a conference on Thursday.

The “media attacking Hungary” aim to “completely stymie and quarantine the government that has won four consecutive two-thirds majorities,” Zoltán Kovács told the Nezopont Institute’s event on Hungary’s image in the international media. Kovács said there had been “no chance to change this narrative” over the last 14 years, arguing that “the other side … has no interest in such a dialogue”.

The state secretary said Hungarian politics and the Hungarian narrative “rest on reality”.

He said the government aimed to pursue policies based on national interests even if its decisions did not align with what other countries or those working at European institutions thought.

Kovács said it was unlikely that there would be fewer conflicts between Hungary and the Western media in the future, mainly because of Hungary’s pro-peace position on the war in Ukraine, the European Parliament election campaign and Hungary’s upcoming European Union presidency.

Bank Levente Boros, the Nezopont Institute’s director for political analysis, said that according to a study analysing 19,153 mentions of Hungary in 100 politically relevant media platforms of 18 countries, Hungary has been getting more and more media attention in recent years.

He attributed this to Hungary’s pro-peace stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that increasingly often, a neutral perception of Hungary tended to become either positive or negative. In the Anglosphere in particular, news stories about Hungary now tended to be more critical in tone compared with a more neutral view in the past, while most Russian news stories now tended to mention Hungary in a positive context.

Boros said the number of positive pieces written about Hungary had increased slightly in French, Spanish, English and Italian-speaking territories, while the number of Polish-language pieces with a positive tone had decreased last year.

In a panel discussion about perceptions of Hungary in the Western media, German journalist Georg Gafron said there were more critical opinions of Hungary than positive ones. He said journalists should present reality instead of being “propagandists” or “philosophers”, adding that four-fifths of German reporters covered the news from the perspective of the Greens and the Social Democrats.

As regards Hungary’s pro-peace stance on Ukraine, Gafron said more than two-thirds of Germans were in favour of supporting Ukraine and “very afraid of the Russians”, which was why it was harder for them to understand Hungary’s position.

Read also:

February 16, 2024

Hungarian government does not see Russia as a security threat to any NATO member

Croatia and Hungary’s relations are weakest in the field of energy, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, told Croatian news agency HINA in an interview published on Tuesday.

Szijjártó attended on Monday the inauguration of a local primary school in Petrinja that had been damaged in an earthquake and rebuilt with 8.7 billion forints (EUR 22.5m) of Hungarian government support.

He called the fully rebuilt school “proof of the friendship between Hungary and Croatia and their people”.

In the interview to HINA, Szijjártó said the two countries’ relations were strongest on the protection of the identity and cultural heritage of each other’s national minorities, which he said “could be used as a benchmark in Europe.” At the same time, energy cooperation is the “weakest link” in bilateral ties, he added.

Szijjártó said he understood that regaining ownership of the INA oil company was a key issue for the Croatian government, but “this should not be considered as an issue between the two states”. Talks on this, he said, should be carries out with Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, which is a Hungarian company, but not state-owned.

The minister said he had told his Croatian partners on multiple occasions that Hungary understood that this was a problem, but it had to be kept separate from every other aspect of bilateral cooperation. He added that the Croatian government seemed not to be ready for this.

According to MOL, Croatian oil pipeline operator Janaf was charging a “disproportionately high and unfair” transit fee for its services.

Szijjártó said that the situation should not be “ideologised or politicised” because the matter was a technical one. Hungary, he noted, can only buy natural gas from Russia via Ukraine or from Janaf operating the Croatian section of the Adria pipeline.

Janaf does not have the capacities to be able to make up for a potential shutdown of the pipeline delivering oil from Russia, Szijjártó said. He said that if there had been a “real will” to increase the pipeline’s capacity, there would have been progress in the two years since the start of the war in Ukraine, “but nothing has happened”, adding that Budapest was concerned by this.

He pointed out that supply security was a key issue for Hungary, and Janaf had only offered a three-month agreement and raised prices significantly since the start of the war.

As regards European Union enlargement, Szijjártó said the project would remain incomplete until all Western Balkan countries are EU members. Hungary believes the EU needs the Western Balkans more than the other way round, he added.

He said the bloc was suffering from losing its competitiveness, war fatigue and from becoming less relevant in global politics. Enlargement would give the EU “freshness” and new momentum, he said, adding that Hungary will put significant emphasis on speeding up the process during its presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year.

Hungary has a vested interest in the stability of the Western Balkans, so the Hungarian government opposes EU sanctions against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, Szijjártó said. He said European sanctions had never been effective anywhere, so there was no point in sanctioning a democratically elected leader as that “would only make the situation worse”. Instead, Budapest urges dialogue, he said, adding that his discussions with Dodik made it clear that he was committed to a European path for his country.

The minister said the acceleration of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership should be used as a “common denominator” that would unite the country’s leaders and nationalities and ease tensions.

Meanwhile, he said Serbia “can join the European Union easily tomorrow”, and as the “biggest and strongest” country in the region, there could be no stability in the Western Balkans without it.

He said Serbia was a proud nation, adding that the “bureaucracy in Brussels” should change its approach to the country, and that instead of “lecturing”, they should communicate “eye to eye”.

He said linking Serbia’s EU membership to the normalisation of ties with Kosovo was unfair to Belgrade, arguing that this was not solely up to Serbia.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó expressed disagreement with recent remarks by certain Western military leaders, citing Denmark’s defence minister as saying that a Russian attack on a NATO country in a few years could not be ruled out.

“Why would they do so? NATO is much stronger than Russia … Why would one attack someone who is much stronger? Why would that make sense for Russia?” Szijjártó said.

“I do not see Russia as a security threat to any NATO member state at all.”

Read also:

Hungary will accept Sweden’s NATO bid next week? – Read more HERE
Biden cabinet disappointed: PM Orbán leads Hungary out from NATO by boycotting Sweden?

February 14, 2024

Orbán: Ukraine has to be a buffer zone between Russia and NATO

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has once again sharply criticised Ukraine. According to Orbán Ukraine adds nothing to the defence of Europe. He added that the West is in decline, and the European Parliament is, in fact, a madhouse.

Ukraine as a buffer zone?

According to HVG, Orbán believes that the Ukrainian state should serve as a buffer zone between Russia and the West, with adequate security guarantees. Former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel spoke to Viktor Orbán for the opening issue of European Voices, a new magazine produced in cooperation with Die Presse, the Austrian Foreign Policy Association and the UN.

In the interview, the Hungarian prime minister stressed that if Kyiv cannot play its role as a buffer, it will lose territory because Moscow will attack it again and again. There is no way that Russia will allow a state that is a member of the EU and NATO on its doorstep.

Ukraine is not defending Europe

Orbán did not agree that the Ukrainians were defending Europe, unlike Hungary in 1956. They do not, he argued, provide any extra security to the western half of the continent because these countries are already in NATO, which is much stronger than Russia. He sees no chance of the Kremlin giving orders to invade any member of NATO.

The PM believes that Europe is not able to supply enough weapons to the Ukrainians because public opinion already resents the support. Therefore, a dialogue on a ceasefire should start immediately, but at the same time, talks on Kyiv’s accession to the EU and NATO should be held.

West in decline, EP is a “madhouse”

One of the reasons for the weakness of the continent, in his reading, is the dysfunction of the European Parliament, “because it is, in fact, a madhouse”.

In his view, we should return to the idea of representatives being delegated by the Member States and not directly elected. And the European Commission should not aspire to be the European Council because it is the Heads of State and Government who have the say.

Orbán sees the greatest threat to the continent in Russia and the US concluding a security agreement over its head. The shift of the centre of gravity of the world economy to Asia is also a serious problem. Orbán says we are witnessing a change of era that happens every 500 years: the end of the West’s leadership.

The Prime Minister said that it is difficult for him to find common ground with American democrats, because in his view, it is not universal values but Hungarian interests that must take precedence. This is precisely why he appreciates Donald Trump’s foreign policy, as it is based on similar principles. And Europe must both cooperate and rival the United States, he said.

Read also:

February 12, 2024

Putin about Hungarian re-annexation of Ukraine’s Transcarpathia in Tucker Carlson-interview

Putin talked about the Hungarian re-annexation of Ukraine's Transcarpathia

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a more than 2-hour-long interview to former US Fox News anchorman Tucker Carlson in Moscow. During the interview, he talked about whether he ever mentioned the Hungarian re-annexation of Ukraine’s Transcarpathia and his journey to the Western Ukrainian region, where almost 100 thousand Hungarians live.

Ukraine’s Transcarpathia: not the home of separatism!

Not many foreigners tend to know, but those Hungarians did not choose to move to Ukraine. The borders moved above their heads. Hungarians born in e.g. Beregszász (Berehove), a town with a Hungarian majority close to the Hungarian border, in 1910 lived their lives in five different countries despite never leaving the settlement. They were born as citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1920, they became citizens of the newly formed Czechoslovakia. In 1938, they returned to the Hungarian Kingdom, and then, in 1944, they became the citizens of the Soviet Union. Finally, in 1991, they were granted Ukrainian citizenship in the newly-former Ukraine.

Of course, they wanted to preserve their language, culture, and traditions regardless of the country they lived in. Therefore, the Ukrainian nationalists regularly try to charge them with separatism, but such attacks lack any basis.

Since the armed conflict with Russia broke out in 2014, such allegations have come forth quite often. As a result, in 2018, for example, the central office of a Hungarian party in Ukraine was set ablaze.

Ukrainian politicians regularly claim that Hungary wants to take back Transcarpathia. That is why PM Orbán did not send weapons to Ukraine or block the country’s EU aid or EU accession before. They do not consider the fact that shortly after the first weapon delivery arrived in Transcarpathia, a Russian rocket destroyed a radio broadcaster there as a warning. And that was the only attack yet in Transcarpathia following the country’s 2022 Russian invasion.

Furthermore, they do not consider another matter. PM Orbán regularly tries to open up more room to manoeuvre in the European Union. Probably that is why he did not back Ukraine’s financial aid or EU accession for the first time last December. In return, Orbán wanted e.g. more money from the frozen EU RRF and development funds. He was unsuccessful. But such moves cannot be regarded as anti-Ukraine.

Putin offered Transcarpathia to Orbán?

Concerning Transcarpathia, the Hungarian government always expressed support towards Ukraine’s territorial integrity. And that is what Putin confirmed in his interview with Tucker Carlson.

Carlson’s question was quite unequivocal: “Have you told Viktor Orbán that he can have part of Ukraine?” “Never, I have never told him. Not a single time. We have not even had any conversations on that. But I actually know for sure that Hungarians who live there wanted to get back their historical lands”.

Putin also shared details about a trip to Transcarpathia’s Beregszász (Berehove).

“Somewhere in the early eighties, I went on a roadtrip in a car, from then Leningrad across the Soviet Union through Kyiv. We stopped in Kyiv, and then we went to Western Ukraine. I went to the town of Berehove (Beregszász in Hungarian, ed. note). All the names of towns and villages were in Russian and a language I did not understand: in Hungarian. In Russian and in Hungarian. Not in Ukrainian – in Russian and in Hungarian. I was driving through a village and men were sitting next to the houses. They were wearing black three-piece suits and black hats. I asked, are they some kind of entertainers? I was told no, they were not entertainers, they were Hungarians. I said, what are they doing here? What do you mean? This is their land, they live here. This was during the Soviet times during the 1980s. They preserved the Hungarian language, the Hungarian names, and all their national costumes. They are Hungarians and they feel like Hungarians“, the Russian president highlighted.

Putin wanted to continue with the infringement of the Hungarians’ language use rights, but Carlson interrupted. The two started to talk about other redrawn borders of the 20th century and dropped the problem of Transcarpathia and local Hungarians.

However, Putin’s reply on the matter was clear. They have never talked with the Hungarian prime minister about a re-annexation of the territory where fewer and fewer Hungarians live due to the war, poverty and Ukrainian ultra-nationalism.

Read also:

Meeting of Hungarian and Ukrainian foreign ministers held, with the Hungarian side asking for 11-point changes – Read more HERE
Terrorist attack in Ukrainian region populated by Hungarians – check out the 18+ VIDEO and more in THIS article

Here is the full interview:

February 9, 2024

United Nations must multiply counter-terrorism resources, says Hungarian foreign minister in NY

The United Nations must multiply its resources spent on counter-terrorism, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Thursday.

Péter Szijjártó told public media during a visit in New York that the UN had handled counter-terrorism action as a “stepchild” for a long time. “The role it was able to fulfil depended on the voluntary donations of member states,” he added.

“For years we’ve been fighting for this situation to change”, and financing counter-terrorism is now part of the United Nations‘ central budget, he said.

The UN’s counter-terrorism efforts are currently managed from two locations: New York and Budapest, since the second largest unit of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism operates in Budapest, he said. “Hungary therefore plays an important role in global counter terrorism efforts,” he added.

In addition to peacekeeping, counter-terrorism efforts must be among the most important tasks of the UN, considering that the world faces “the most severe threat of terror ever”, he said. “This started not only with the brutal terrorist attacks in Israel, but the threat of terrorism had already been at a very high level in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia and even in Europe, as a result of the development of parallel societies emerging from migration waves to western Europe,” he added.

Terrorism and illegal migration formed a “vicious circle”, he said, because when terrorism became increasingly severe in any one part of the world, migration sprang from that location and terrorist organisations abused illegal migration, hiding their terrorists in the uncontrolled waves of migrants. “If Europe gets hit by migration waves, it will increase chances of terrorists getting in,” he added.

He expressed hope that by keeping the waves of illegal migration under control, the threat of terrorism could be reduced.

Commenting on his talks with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, he said the UN must play a leading role in counter-terrorism efforts and in peacekeeping. Several international organisations, he said, had failed in respect of the war in Ukraine, only making the situation worse with weapons transports and pro-war propaganda. He said the UN must step forward in this area, given that it was set up precisely to help communication between warring states.

Szijjártó said currently neither side was open to mediation, and the continuation of the war must be expected in Ukraine, despite the fact that “there is no solution on the battlefield”. European strategy “has been a complete failure”, he said. Those European politicians who say the developments in the battlefield would bring the situation closer to peace “cheated” the European people, he said. “They have either lied or assessed the situation completely falsely,” he added.

The foreign minister called freeing the hostages “the most important task” in the Middle East, adding that he agreed with the UN Secretary-General that Qatar should be given all possible support. He noted that Qatar’s mediation efforts had yielded results and the freeing of the first three Hungarian hostages were also thanks to that country.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said modern-day anti-Semitism had spread “at a shocking rate” in western Europe and the United States in the recent months, with dozens of violent demonstrations held against Israel and with the harassment of Jewish communities and their members. “Those must be stopped,” he said. The minister called modern-day anti-Semitism a consequence of illegal migration in western Europe, saying that “aggressive migrants” had brought it with them as parallel societies had emerged.

With zero tolerance in place against anti-Semitism and a ban on pro-terrorist demonstrations, he said Hungary was the safest country for Jewish communities.

Szijjártó said that it had transpired from his meetings with US Republican politicians that they had extensive information about developments in Europe and in Hungary in particular, and they followed the activities of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government “with great sympathy”. “They are keeping their fingers crossed” for the prime minister in his efforts to enforce Hungary’s national interests, protect Christian-conservative values and protect families while fighting illegal migration, he said.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he said: “If someone tries to argue in favour of ending the war in Ukraine, they are immediately called Putin’s friend, a Russian spy or a Kremlin propagandist.” Related article: Hungarian FM Szijjártó receives Order of Friendship from Russian FM Lavrov

The foreign minister attributed Hungary’s success in the recent past to the “honest and clear political strategy” the country had pursued. Hungary, he added, had the political stability for this, based on the Hungarian people’s support of the government’s political strategy.

Speaking about the Hungarian opposition, Szijjártó insisted it was “led by the US ambassador to Budapest, which is a strange situation, a qualified case of [foreign] interference in a country’s internal affairs.” As we wrote a few days ago, the United States may introduce severe travel restrictions against several Hungarian politicians following the Global Magnitsky Act, details HERE.

Good question, is the Hungarian government’s campaign for Trump not interference in a country’s internal affairs? Read details: Orbán: Trump is our only hope

February 9, 2024

MEP Gyöngyösi: What are the greatest challenges for the EU? – VIDEO

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Hungarian MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-Attached Member of the European Parliament) shares his views on challenges for the EU.

“Let’s make it clear: the European Union has never been as strong and united as it is now. Fortunately, we are not facing anything like an “age of threats”. What we do face are a few challenges the EU must respond to. This is not an impossible mission, but it largely depends on what kind of leaders we choose in the European parliamentary elections on 9th June.

The biggest challenge for the EU is to guarantee the security of the European Union, including our homeland. Russia made no secret how it would attach the eastern EU member states, including Hungary, to its own sphere of influence if it succeeded in Ukraine. It’s the EU’s job to prevent Russia’s expansion so that we don’t end up on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain again.

To that end, we must seriously consider deepening the military and defence cooperation of EU member states, and lay down the foundations for a joint army. Russia is a large military force and, each on our own, we are small, no matter how heroic we are.

The other great challenge for the EU comes from within: certain politicians are quite busy trying to eliminate the European way of life. On the one side, we have the pro-Russia right wing politicians who want to dismantle the EU so that they could expose us to Russia or China, deprive us of our freedom and turn us into cheap slaves in our own homeland. On the other side, we have the social engineering greens who would destroy Europe by downgrading European industries and revoking our right to free movement, thus ultimately making way for Asian dictatorships, too.

I believe the EU should remain such a community that can ensure our freedom and security while protecting our European way of life.”

read also: MEP Gyöngyösi about the importance of staying in the EU – VIDEO

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

February 8, 2024

Orbán: Hungary key state during changing global power dynamics

Orbán cabinet gets rid of foreign companies in this skyrocketing economy branch

Hungary is a “key state” which takes it upon itself to represent regional interests as well, and represents values in connection with the changing world order that “differ from the usual”, the prime minister’s political director said at the presentation of a book on Hungary’s strategy for connectivity in Győr, in the northwest, on Tuesday.

Balázs Orbán, who is also chairman of the board of trustees of Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), said the changing global power dynamics were also impacting the balance in world politics. He argued that the ongoing industrial revolutions were based on technologies requiring raw materials not available in Europe, making the continent vulnerable.

He said Hungary could choose to either apply an emotional approach to this change, or take it as something that is natural and try to manage the situation.

Though Hungary is “demographically not a significant country”, its level of technical development is high and its export power strong, Orbán said, adding that over the last 30 years, Hungary had become capable of producing what it needs and making sure that its goods are competitive in other parts of the world as well.

He said it was impossible to predict global developments, but a policy of a formation of blocs was not a solution. The emergence of blocs, he added, was dangerous for Hungary because it blocked breakout opportunities and posed a geopolitical threat.

Orbán said that the policy of blocs did not strengthen the development position of the United States, but instead accelerated change, arguing that Europe “fell to its knees” as a result of the US’ approach to the war between Russia and Ukraine, while Russia had been able to diversify its economy and strengthen its relations with China.

He said Hungary needed an approach that opposed the formation of blocs and was built on connectivity. Such an approach, he added, ended unilateral dependence, strengthened sovereignty and widened economic spectrums.

Orbán said this entailed government policies that focused on transport infrastructure developments and the establishment of logistics hubs while devoting attention to increasing value added in the economic output, and a foreign policy based on national interests.

Read also:

Orbán-university will conquer London? – Read more HERE
Government-close company acquires Hungary’s largest bookstore chain: governmental interference to come?

February 7, 2024

Russians outraged: ‘PM Orbán betrayed us!’

PM Viktor Orbán blocked Sweden’s NATO accession and 50 billion euros of EU aid for Ukraine. Furthermore, Hungary helped Russian oligarchs amid the sanctions war, even the Moscow patriarch. Orbán said several times that the West should not finance and arm Ukraine. Instead, Washington should talk with Moscow, establish a ceasefire and start peace negotiations. Russians liked that talk. But something changed this week after a key vote in Brussels.

No to EU and NATO accession

Last December, the European Union’s leaders and PM Viktor Orbán got up from the negotiation table in Brussels with a half-deal. The Hungarian prime minister left the room when there was a vote about Ukraine’s EU accession so that passed anonymously. However, he returned when talks started about a EUR 50 billion help for Ukraine and vetoed it.

Nobody really understood why, just like in the case of the blockage of Sweden’s NATO accession. In the latter case, Hungary did not even have claims, unlike Türkiye. For example, Erdogan wanted to buy American aircraft in return for his green light, while Orbán wanted nothing in specific.

Nobody understood the Hungarian prime minister

In the case of the Ukraine help, the situation was clearer. The European Union froze billions of euros of EU development and RRF funds. Orbán wanted Brussels to open those money taps. And that is what happened in December: the European Commission promised approximately 10 billion euros for Hungary. The Ukraine veto followed that decision.

Orbán talked about the corruption in Kyiv, but nobody really understood what happened.

Read also:

Brussels Times: Viktor Orbán was stuck in the toilet and missed the vote – Read more HERE
PM Orbán behind closed doors about dangerous US-plan in Europe – Details in THIS article

Everything changed this Thursday. The European Union summoned another summit only to convince the Hungarian leader. According to Válasz Online, strengthening his fame was the only gain and purpose of Orbán’s blocks, nothing else. In that regard, the Hungarian prime minister was successful: headlines in Europe contained his name more times than anybody else in those days.

Russians outraged about PM Orbán

However, on Thursday, he said ‘Yes’ to all Ukraine claims and received nothing visible in return. The European leaders did not accept his proposal about the annual supervision of the money, which would have granted a veto for Hungary every year. Furthermore, Orbán could not unlock more frozen funds thanks to his ‘game’.

Many influencers and even politicians in Russia thought Orbán was an ally of them in the ‘new cold war’ between the West and Russia. For them, the Thursday decisions could equal a slap on their face. Of course, they should have watched the last personal meeting of the two leaders. Putin and Orbán sat at the two ends of a very long table. Orbán obtained the same place as any other NATO member heads, like President Macron, days later.

Now, the Russian comment writers are angry with the Hungarian prime minister. They said Orbán betrayed them. Another said the PM considered only Hungary’s economic interests, while according to another person, he committed treason just like President Erdogan.

“They broke Orbán since he is weak”, another one replied. “It was stupid to think Hungarians can resist”, another reader wrote.

Others said Orbán lacked an alternative because the EU would have destroyed the Hungarian economy. Some comment writers said PM Fico would be the next victim of Brussels’ campaign, index.hu wrote.

February 4, 2024

MEP Gyöngyösi: It’s time for Europe to take control of her own security

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Hungarian MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-Attached Member of the European Parliament) published a press release about Europe’s search for a way forward on Russian aggression:

Historically, the past seventy years were a special era for Western Europe, and the same applies to the past thirty years for Central Europe as well. Our continent was able to focus on her own business and become one of the world’s wealthiest regions without having to deal much with security, as it was outsourced to the United States of America.

Apart from the few European countries which still prioritize maintaining and constantly developing their military potential for historical reasons, most of our continent’s states relied on NATO and the US for protection, considering their own defence forces as barely more than a relic of the past.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put an end to this era for good, regardless how convenient it was for Europe in recent decades. The real military threat has become palpable for everyone. Unfortunately, right at the same time, the United States seems to have second thoughts on whether Washington should keep guaranteeing Europe’s security in the future. Frankly, if Donald Trump returns to power after the next presidential elections, Europe may be left to her own devices in terms of defence policy. Some sources suggest that this situation might even lead to a Russian aggression against EU territory.

I believe politics has no place for panic, but common sense dictates that Europe, if she wants to protect her way of life, wealth and political system, will have no choice but to take control of her own security. It is encouraging to see how this issue is more and more often discussed by politicians.

Although the creation of a joint European military force and defence capability has been considered as a political affair for quite a while, I am convinced it no longer is.

If we understand that very few European countries could wage a successful war against Russia on their own, and a Russian invasion of any EU member state or occupation of some of her territories would be an act of war against the entire European community, the answer is clear.

History never stops, and some of its turns are not pleasant, unfortunately. I hope that the European Union will not be attacked this year or in any of the upcoming years. But if it happens, we must be ready.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

January 31, 2024

PM Orbán got into serious trouble in the NATO: what will follow?

Turkey’s parliament has voted in favour of Sweden’s NATO membership, leaving Hungary as the sole member yet to accept Stockholm’s bid. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán extended an invitation to his Swedish counterpart for a discussion on shared concerns, only to receive an unexpected response. Previously, Hungary had committed not to be the final country to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid.

Hungary’s support towards Türkiye

In a recent Facebook post, Hungarian defence policy expert András Rácz highlighted that Orbán’s invitation appeared to contradict Hungary’s official stance on Sweden’s NATO accession. This official position had been rooted in concerns about Sweden’s perceived lack of respect for Hungary and its values.

To Orbán’s surprise, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström responded, stating that there was no necessity for a meeting between the two leaders. This unforeseen reply places Hungary in a more challenging position.

“Until now, the semi-official Hungarian explanation has been that by delaying the ratification, Hungary was assisting Türkiye, ensuring that Ankara was not left isolated by its delay,” said Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament. Németh voiced this even publicly, which has been the dominant explanation in closed-door meetings too. Nevertheless, the exact benefits Budapest gained from supporting Ankara were never disclosed. Notably, Hungary’s typically transactionalist foreign policy apparatus remained silent on the matter, remarked András Rácz.

András Rácz, in another post, suggested that the delay in Sweden’s NATO accession only serves Russia’s interests, providing Moscow with additional time to prepare for the Baltic Sea potentially becoming a ‘NATO lake.’

Read also:

Mysterious: Orbán told NATO, EU he COULD NOT EVADE a meeting with Putin – Read more HERE
Erdogan submits Sweden’s bid for NATO membership: will Orbán follow? – Details in THIS article

The NATO counts on Hungary’s green light ASAP

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s general secretary, expressed optimism yesterday, stating that he “also counts on Hungary to complete its national ratification as soon as possible.”

Despite earlier assurances from Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó not to be the last NATO member accepting Sweden’s NATO membership, it appears the Hungarian government may struggle to keep that promise. The Hungarian parliament has not initiated its spring session, and while Orbán’s governing parties hold a supermajority, convening a session at any time would be conspicuous.

Furthermore, this move could signify that Erdogan did not inform Orbán about the impending decision of the Ankara parliament. It would suggest that Hungary was left behind, despite Budapest’s efforts to assist Türkiye in its negotiations with Sweden, potentially casting a shadow over the otherwise positive Hungary-Türkiye relationship.

The Turkish parliament’s decision now waits for the president’s signature. But that is expected “to happen fairly soon”, András Rácz wrote.

The Turkish parliament’s decision now awaits the president’s signature, which is expected “to happen fairly soon,” according to András Rácz. In this scenario, Hungary may find it challenging to explain, even behind closed doors, why they did not accept Sweden’s NATO bid despite having no precise complaints, except for the perceived lack of respect, nor demands towards Stockholm.

Former PM Gyurcsány’s DK calls on Orbán ‘to get parlament’ to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban “to get the Hungarian parliament” to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession.
Party spokeswoman Olga Kálmán told a press conference on Wednesday that it was clear ever since the issue emerged that Sweden’s accession is as much in the interest of NATO as of Hungary. “The biggest hurdle, Turkiye’s veto, has been lifted with the Turkish parliament’s ratification of Sweden’s membership,” she said.

Kálmán said that Orban “has been left on his own on this issue as well” and “is a loner in standing in the way of Sweden’s accession”. “It is clear that the Hungarian prime minister, who is under Putin’s influence, is not considered a sovereign player in the European political arena. Even the Swedish government said their members do not want to meet Viktor Orban as they have nothing to discuss,” Kálmán said.

January 24, 2024

MEP Gyöngyösi: Why is it good to belong to the West – video

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MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-attached Member of the European Parliament) has published a video message in which he talks about why is it good to belong to the West:

Text version of video message:

“In Russia today, if you do just as much as holding up a white sheet of paper to show your dissatisfaction with the political or economic situation, you’ll be arrested by the police and you’re lucky to ever emerge from some Siberian labour camp.
In China, even billionaire businessmen and well-known public figures can “disappear” for months after a critical comment, and when they do re-emerge, they are absolutely unwilling to talk about where they have been.
The right to freedom of speech does not exist in a significant part of the world, and the expression of negative opinions entails imprisonment.
When we talk about Europe, we should not forget how privileged we are to travel freely, express our opinions and not to give up our dreams for political reasons.
That’s why it’s so threatening that the Hungarian government is intent on further restricting these rights and opportunities.
Let’s not end up like the older generations who were separated from the free world by an iron curtain, living in a society where even your ability to enter higher education was decided on a political basis and where you had to face many years in prison or even worse for expressing opinions that are common in social media today.
It is a privilege to belong to the West and we can lose it. It is our responsibility not to end up on the wrong side of history again.”

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

January 22, 2024

Hungary will not block other EU member states weapons deliveries to Ukraine

Hungary will remain uninvolved in weapons deliveries to Ukraine, but will not block other European Union member states from sending them, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Monday, adding that the Hungarian government refused to bear any financial burdens of the arms supplies.

EU member states “still refuse to abandon their failed strategy, despite its failures having been proven over the past weeks”, Szijjártó told a press conference after a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, according to a ministry statement.

“The longer this war goes on, the more people will die and the greater the destruction will be,” the minister said.

He criticised as “disappointing” a proposal by the European External Action Service (EEAS) to allocate 5 billion euros within the European Peace Facility towards weapons deliveries this year, which would then be extended on a yearly basis.

Szijjártó said that though this was “a notch softer” than the previous proposal, it still signalled a long-term commitment to the war.

Under the EEAS’s proposal, Hungary’s contribution would have to be 23 billion forints (EUR 60.1m).

“Giving new momentum to weapons deliveries is completely unacceptable to Hungary,” the minister said. He added, at the same time, that the Hungarian government did not want to block any other member state from supplying weapons to Ukraine, noting that they were accountable to their own electorate.

“We certainly won’t spend another 23 billion forints of our taxpayers’ money over a single year so that others could send weapons to Ukraine, which protracts the war, extends the suffering and brings more death and destruction,” he said.

Szijjártó said the EU should instead open the channels of communication and help secure a ceasefire and the start of peace talks between the warring sides.

read also: Chance for an Orbán-Zelenskyy summit increases: Hungary’s foreign minister to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, details HERE

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said he and his counterparts had also discussed a thirteenth sanctions package against Russia, “even though the restrictions imposed so far have mainly hurt Europe and haven’t moved the conflict any closer to a settlement”.

“But of course, if one brings this up, as I regularly do, I’m immediately accused of spreading Russian propaganda,” he said.

Szijjártó said he had warned his counterparts against imposing any sanctions on the nuclear industry, saying Hungary would not support any such measure.

He also pointed out that Russia last year became the United States’ top supplier of enriched uranium, citing reports of imports worth over one billion dollars.

As we wrote today, after a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Szijjártó told a press conference that Hungary’s standpoint was “crystal clear”: it must never be forgotten what triggered the conflict in the Middle East. Read here: Hungarian Foreign Minister: Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas is not only understandable, but legitimate

January 22, 2024

MEP Gyöngyösi: If Europe fails in this struggle, it will become weightless and divided

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MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-attached Member of the European Parliament) has published a video message in which he talks about the dangers of the war in Ukraine for Europe.

Text version of video message:

“It’s hard to understand how Orbán can talk about sovereignty and then urge the US and Russia to make an agreement over the heads of the Ukrainians about something that affects the Ukrainians.
The facts speak for themselves: no matter what kind of a country Ukraine is, its people chose Europe over Russia. Now it’s Europe’s turn to help Ukraine for the following reasons:
On 17 December 2021, Russia made it clear that they wanted the entire Central Europe and we were next after Ukraine.
If Europe fails in this struggle, it will become weightless and divided.
If Russia wins, we will surely end up on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, with closed borders and the world of terror returning.
If we don’t want to go back to the 1950s, where Russia is heading at the moment, then we must step together with Europe.
Today, Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russia, but it is also protecting Europe from a Russian attack. This is a real threat, no matter how inconvenient the truth is.
Orbán is betting on the wrong horse either way: if Russia wins or if Russia loses, too. The only way for him to benefit from the situation if Russia occupies us too, but that would be a disaster for us.
Let’s not end up on the wrong side of history again.”

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

January 14, 2024

Why did Hungarian soldiers fight and die against the Soviets East from Ukraine, in the Don bend?

Almost 200 thousand Hungarian soldiers fought in the heart of the Soviet Union, not far from the original Eastern Ukrainian border, between today’s Belgorod and Voronezh in January 1943. More than 120 thousand of them never returned home. But what did they do there?

Gaining back Hungarian land and people required Hitler’s support

After WWI, Hungary lost 2/3rd of its territories and 1/3rd of its Hungarian populace. Therefore, revision became one of the most important aims of the Hungarian foreign policy. Hitler’s Germany followed the same policy between 1938 and 1941, which resulted in gaining back more than 80 thousand km2 and millions of Hungarian nationals (together with other ethnicities like Romanians, Serbs and Slovaks). Unfortunately, the successes of the territorial revision joined Hungary’s fate with Nazi Germany’s.

When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, all the neighbouring countries joined Hitler. Romania and Slovakia marched together with the Wehrmacht. Only Hungary fell behind. The political leaders feared the quick German victories would drive Hungary into a difficult situation. Moreover, military leaders were sure Nazi Germans would defeat the Soviet Union in no time. Therefore, when unidentified planes appeared and attacked Kassa (now Slovakia, then the Kingdom of Hungary), Governor Miklós Horthy ordered the Hungarian troops to join the German invading forces.

After the first defeats, Hungary became important

Hungarian help in the Soviet Union was only a minor contribution in 1941 since the Germans did not need it due to the quick victories. But after the defeat near Moscow (December 1941), everything changed. Hitler demanded an entire Hungarian army be placed on the Eastern front.

That was the Hungarian Second Army arriving in today’s East Ukraine in the summer of 1942. Afterwards, they engaged in fierce fighting near the River Don, during which they suffered considerable losses concerning more than 30 thousand soldiers out of the 190 thousand. Then came the winter and the minus 30-40 degrees.

The Soviets outnumbered the Hungarian troops, taking defensive positions on the Don Bend, for which they lacked both modern weapons, ammunition, vehicles, planes, equipment, clothing, etc. For example, the Soviet artillery outnumbered the Hungarian 5:1, while there were 2.7 times more Soviet soldiers than Hungarians. Thus, the catastrophe was inevitable.

Unstoppable Soviet attack destroyed the Hungarian army

The Soviet attack started on 12 January, and in a couple of days, they defeated the Hungarian troops even though some fought valiantly against the Soviet superiority. The Germans did not help the withdrawing Hungarians. What’s more, they took what they could and did not allow them into the villages they occupied to rest.

Hungarian soldiers in the Soviet Union — You may find the Hungarian troops in the centre top of the map under the name Jany. Source: Creative Commons

The Hungarian commander, Gusztáv Jány, first called the Hungarian soldiers cowards for retreating. That resulted in a general outcry, and Horthy ordered him to withdraw that statement. By 3 March, only 2,913 officers and 61,116 soldiers could escape death, freeze or the Soviet POW camps (which meant almost the same). Considering the losses suffered during the summer fights, we can say that Hungary lost about 150 thousand people to the Soviet Union by 1943 spring (dead, POWs). That was unacceptable and could not be replaced ever.

Gusztáv Jány was executed in November 1947 and posthumously exonerated in 1993 by the Supreme Court of Hungary.

Controversial opinions

Opinions about the Second Hungarian Army (and other Hungarian troops fighting or carrying out other tasks in the Soviet Union) divide. Some believe that Hungarians were defending their families, traditions, etc. against the plague of Bolshevism in the Soviet Union. As a result, they are heroes.

Others claim they were invaders who joined the bad cause (Hitler’s campaign), and some of them committed horrors even against the civilians and the Jews. They think that the lost souls in the Don Bend were at best, victims of Hitler and Horthy, who were not supposed to be there but still carried out their duties.

Hungary commemorates soldiers lost at the Don bend

Soldiers of the Second Hungarian Army who lost their lives in battle with Soviet forces at the Don bend 81 years earlier were honoured at a commemoration in Budapest’s Fiume Street cemetery on Friday.

Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said 100,000-120,000 Hungarian troops had been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or gone missing in action during the WWII battle.

Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces Gabor Böröndi called the battle one of the bloodiest defeats in Hungarian history.

Concert honours memory of 1956 martyr

A concert was performed in honour of Árpád Brusznyai, a martyr of the 1956 Hungarian anti-Soviet Revolution, in Veszprém, in the west of Hungary, on Saturday.

Speaking at the event, marking the hundredth anniversary of Brusznyai’s birth, President Katalin Novák said heroes were people who “put their ideas into practice”, adding that their greatness came from the fact that they were “no different from us”.

“They were boys and girls, fathers and mothers, people facing the challenges of everyday life,” she said.

We wrote HERE about the Don disaster.

Read also:

Did you know that a Hungarian writer fooled the whole Soviet Union with a made-up historical character? – Read more about that in THIS article

January 14, 2024

Orbán-Zelenskyy summit can pave the way for Orbán’s strongmanship in the EU

Negotiations started to organise an Orbán-Zelenskyy summit. PM Viktor Orbán has not visited Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. He also expressed several times that he did not believe in Ukrainian victory and slammed Kyiv for being corrupt. Therefore, Orbán was against sending more EU aid to the country. What’s more, he even accused Brussels of not giving Hungary development and RRF funds because those financial assets are already in Ukraine.

Therefore, the possible meeting of the Hungarian and Ukrainian leaders may end a very tense era of mutual accusations. Ukrainian leaders suggested several times that the Orbán cabinet was supporting Russia and, in that regard, they found powerful supporters, especially the Biden administration in the United States.

According to portfolio.hu, Ukraine and Hungary must hammer out the precise details of the coming Orbán-Zelenskyy summit. That comes after Orbán and the Hungarian foreign ministry highlighted several times that a summit should only be held if the two leaders can sign agreements.

As we wrote yesterday, the Hungarian and Ukrainian foreign ministers are to meet in Ungvár (Uzhorod) in Transcarpathia on 29 January. That is when they will discuss the meeting of the two country leaders.

Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said yesterday that a Hungary-Ukraine summit “would make sense only” if it was well-prepared. The meeting’s aim is “to examine whether a top-level meeting would further bilateral relations”, and to review the tasks necessary “for a meeting between the leaders of the two countries to have a hope of success.”

Orbán may join one of the biggest EU parties

On 1 February, there will be an EU summit to work out an alliance between the 26 EU member states if Orbán continues to veto the EU support for Ukraine. However, Reuters wrote Brussels hoped Hungary would give that standpoint up before that happened.

Interestingly, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would welcome Orbán’s Fidesz in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group provided the Hungarian prime minister supported the EU support for Ukraine in February. That would mean EUR 50 billion for Kyiv. Fidesz left the European People’s Party (EPP) in 2019.

In December, Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s political director, said a green light was unimaginable until Hungary got all EU development and RRF funds. Later, Brussels promised EUR 10 billion out of the almost 30 billion for Hungary.

Bloomberg said that Meloni wanted Orbán to normalise his relationship with Zelenskyy. That is probably why a summit has to be arranged.

ECR may become the third biggest party in the European Parliament after the 2024 European parliamentary elections if Fidesz joins their ranks.

Read also:

Hungarian foreign minister: 2024 is the Super Bowl of politics – Read more HERE
Controversial decision: over 2000 foreign traffickers released from Hungarian prisons in 2023 – Details in THIS article

January 12, 2024

MEP Gyöngyösi: Russia has already indicated in 2021 that it wants to devour Central Europe, including Hungary

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Hungarian MEP Márton Gyöngyösi (Non-Attached Member of the European Parliament) has published a video message to draw attention to the Russian military doctrine for 2021.

Text version of video message:

“Without much coverage in the Hungarian media, Russia released its new military doctrine on 17 December 2021 and sent it to the United States of America as well as NATO. (Source and source.) Both letters state that Russia aims to restore its sphere of interest, i.e., to once again devour Central Europe, including Hungary. Just a little later, the war started with a military aggression against Ukraine. So, this war is not a conflict between two brotherly nations, it is not a war between Ukraine and Russia. Instead, it is aimed at restoring Russia’s old sphere of interest. This is the renewal of the Brezhnev Doctrine. In this war, Viktor Orbán openly roots for Russia. The problem is that Hungary may be occupied by Russia again, with a dictatorship again and closed borders again. Let’s not end up on the wrong side of history again!”

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

January 7, 2024