war

Orbán: Hungary will link fuel prices to regional average

The Hungarian government will link the price of fuel to the average of neighbouring countries but leaving Poland, Czech Republic and Bulgaria out of the calculation, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday.

Orbán said it was a “justified expectation that wholesalers and retailers should sell fuels to Hungarians at a price similar to the citizens of other countries in the region.”

“Distributors had better accept this and set their profit margins accordingly rather than wait for the state to make them do so,” he said, adding that he had asked the national economy minister “not to use his powers to coerce but to negotiate”.

Orbán said however that the government’s earlier proposal to distributors had not been “flawless”, using “the regional data including Polish, Czech, and Bulgarian prices, which the distributors thought was unfair”. So the government will tie the Hungarian price level to the average of neighbouring countries, he said. The government will keep its earlier pledge that “Hungarians will not pay more for petrol than the average price” in neighbouring countries.

Orbán: ‘European security solution needed’

A European “security solution involving Russia” is needed, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public radio in an interview on Friday, adding that all sides should be made to feel safe, “as this may guarantee that a [further] armed conflict does not break out”.

Orbán said the war not only led to losses but produced winners, too, insisting that Washington’s aid to Ukraine “is in fact a massive military order for American industry”.

War profiteers, he added, were “few but … strong”. He said tension resulted, as “most people are on the side of peace”.

Orbán said central Europe had “lost all wars” while western Europe had won them, emerging victorious though at the cost of great suffering.

“Our historical experience with war is that you can only lose out,” he said. “The closer you are to a war zone, the higher the price you pay.”

Orbán: ‘We’re paying war surcharge in shops’

“We’re paying higher prices in shops … because of the war in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview to public radio on Friday, adding that the war was also dampening Hungary’s economic growth.

“The government is putting the economy back on a growth path this year after an extremely difficult 2023” he said. “If we were not in a war environment, growth would not be 2.5 percent but twice as high.”

Should the war continue next year, “Hungary’s defence spending budgeted for 2023-24 will not be enough … it must be increased, and we’ll have less money left for other things,” he said. “In the shadow of war, it’s harder to run the economy … than in peacetime.”

Orbán said that memories of the second world war and its consequences, Hungarians had “an instinctive desire for peace”. While in France or Germany “it is a political position … for us it is our deepest life instinct to reject war and crave peace,” he added.

Orbán: ‘A vote for Fidesz a vote for peace’

Europe may be “drifting into war”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in an interview to public radio on Friday, declaring that the outcome of the upcoming European parliamentary elections would hinge on “the number of votes for pro-war forces as opposed to the number for the pro-peace camp”.

“In Hungary, those who support peace will vote for Fidesz; those who vote for the left wing will cast their ballot for war,” the prime minister said.

“Europe is playing with fire at the border of peace and war,” Orbán said.

Noting the war in Ukraine has lasted two years, Orbán said European leaders had been implementing sanctions, strategising and “drifting day by day, not from war to peace, but from peace to war”.

“This is highly dangerous and I’m worried about Europe’s future,” he said.

Recalling the war in the Balkans, the prime minister said that he had personal experiences of “the wind of war whistling past your ears”, and it was not fitting to agree with statements about the war “spoken as if it were an afternoon tea party”.

Orbán recalled that Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, had suggested that the idea of war broadening to Europe was “no longer a fantasy”, and he also cited the Polish foreign minister as saying that the war in Ukraine could not have a diplomatic solution and could only be resolved through “raw military power”.

Orbán said those remarks “conceal a real will” and they were not just soundbites.

He also recalled Hungary’s NATO accession in 1999, when the country had to “go through frontline baptism overnight” when NATO “decided to attack Serbia, and Hungary had to contribute military facilities, mainly airfields.”

Orbán also said the US “also had aspirations to open another front in northern Serbia, at the Hungarian border, and they had actual military plans for Hungary to implement… I rejected those and managed to keep Hungary out of the war.”

Though the Balkan wars were “smaller in scale” than the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a huge number of refugees arrived and were accommodated in southern Hungary, he said. “While the country was not at war, the war made it suffer greatly,” he said.

Hungary, he added, was forced into a war twice, tragically sealing its fate.

“We did not want to take part in either the first or second world war; we were forced into both and were among those who paid the highest price for this in the end,” he said.

Orbán said the government would not allow Hungary to be forced into a war for a third time. “We’ll keep to the pro-peace standpoint,” he declared.

A European “security solution involving Russia” is needed, Orbán said, adding that all sides should be made to feel safe, “as this may guarantee that a [further] armed conflict does not break out”.

Orbán said the war not only led to losses but produced winners, too, insisting that Washington’s aid to Ukraine “is in fact a massive military order for American industry”.

War profiteers, he added, were “few but … strong”. He said tension resulted, as “most people are on the side of peace”.

Orbán said central Europe had “lost all wars” while western Europe had won them, emerging victorious though at the cost of great suffering. “Our historical experience with war is that you can only lose out,” he said. “The closer you are to a war zone, the higher the price you pay.”

Staying out of the war “requires courage and national unity . .. the leader of a politically divided country will have great difficulties in keeping his country out of the war,” he insisted.

The prime minister estimated that some 80-90 percent of Hungarian voters were on the side of peace, adding that “I must represent the desire for life rooted in the country’s deepest life instincts”. He said “even the pro-war left knows that war is worse than peace”, and he suggested that “the left is being paid” to promote their position.

“In the whole of Europe — and for the time being in America too — governments are for war, and that is why they want a new government in Hungary … a pro-war government,” Orbán said.

“We’re paying higher prices in shops … because of the war in Ukraine,” Orbán said, adding that the war was also dampening Hungary’s economic growth.

Orbán said that memories of the second world war and its consequences had bestowed on Hungarians “an instinctive desire for peace”. While in France or Germany “it is a political position … for us it is our deepest life instinct to reject war and crave peace,” he added.

The outcome of the European Parliament elections would determine whether pro-war or pro-peace forces prevailed, he said, adding that what was at primarily stake was the issue of war rather than the usual divisions of right and left and various other ideologies.

Orbán said it was possible that anti-war MEPs would form a majority in the EP, adding that there was reason for confidence in this respect, since whereas a year ago the majority of Europeans backed the war, this was no longer the case and people were “shifting in the direction of peace”.

In Hungary, “a vote for Fidesz is a vote for peace”, he said, insisting that left-wing voters would be casting their ballot for war.

The prime minister said other key issues of dispute were “gender, family protection and migration”.

He said Europe was at a historical crossroads and politicians who shaped European discourse felt that how they acted carried “far more weight than usual”, and this was also true of the outcome of the EP election.

Regarding the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s EU membership, Orbán said that “it’s better to be inside than on the outside”, but when the country joined in 2004 “it wasn’t about” millions of migrants flowing in or “retaliation if a country wrote in its constitution that the father is a man and the mother is a woman”.

He said Hungary had joined the EU because “Europe meant peace and prosperity, but now we are in the midst of an economic crisis and instead of peace, European leaders are pushing the continent towards war.”

Regarding fuel prices, he said it was legitimate to expect wholesalers and retailers to ensure that Hungarians bought fuel at the same price as the citizens of other countries in the region, and fuel businesses should adjust their profits accordingly. He added that he had asked Marton Nagy, the national economy minister, to negotiate with these businesses rather than coerce them.

He said these businesses based their calculations on Central Statistical Office (KSH) regional data which included Polish, Czech and Bulgarian prices as well those pertaining to neighbouring countries, and the businesses regarded this as unfair. So the average price the government wants the Hungarian price level linked to is being recalculated without the Polish, Czech and Bulgarian data, he said, adding that Hungarian consumers must not have to pay more for fuel than the average price in neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, Orbán said that Hungary’s economy would remain focused on Europe, noting the importance of German market for the economy, though its radius must be expanded. Germany, he added, had been “knocked out” by the war “because they isolated themselves” and also the US isolated Germany from the Russian energy system.

Orbán said that growth in Hungary was heavily reliant on “our most natural sales market”, western Europe, which was “sick and bedridden”, and this could be the case for another year or two.

“It’s not by chance that the Chinese president is coming to Hungary next week,” he said, noting that Hungary has increased its activity in Central Asia, “and our economic ties with Africa are also improving”.

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May 3, 2024

Orbán: Voting for the left means supporting war

PM Orbán's favourite Budapest downtown bar found

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the leader of the ruling Fidesz party, visited Nyíregyháza, in eastern Hungary, on the campaign trail on Thursday, where he met the city’s mayor, members of the Association of Entrepreneurs for Nyíregyháza and voters, the PM’s press chief said.

Orbán: the left makes promises, we work

Noting the developments undertaken in Nyíregyháza since 2010, Orbán said: “The left makes promises, we, on the other hand, work. They talk and we deliver. What’s more, voting for the left today means supporting war.”

Orbán said there were always those who benefitted from war, “with some even becoming very rich”. “This would also be the case today, which is why Brussels supports the war,” the prime minister said. “But the majority suffers in every war. And if this majority now raises its voice all across Europe, the worst can still be avoided. This is what’s at stake on June 9. This election will have a decisive impact on the question of war or peace,” Orbán added.

Bóka: EU’s last five years a ‘failure’

The European Union’s last five years have been a “failure”, János Bóka, the European affairs minister, said on Thursday, arguing that the bloc was facing structural problems and poor decision-making “in a well-functioning system”.

Bóka told a conference that certain poor decisions could be chalked up to the EU leadership’s “incompetence”, saying this meant that the bloc required new leadership. He added, however, that this would not be enough to solve the EU’s problems due to its structural shortcomings.

He said the EU’s institution-driven and bureaucratic functioning had taken on “a life of its own”, and European institutions now saw themselves as political players with political agendas.

The EU’s failures also extended to the matters of peace and security, competitiveness, the management of the migration crisis and agriculture, Bóka told the event organised by the XXI. Század Intézet.

Meanwhile, ruling Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch also addressed the same conference, and said the EU should go back to being “a peace project of national and European sovereignty”. It should be “united in diversity, a cooperation of equal member states, European, democratic and free”, he said.

Deutsch said that after Hungary’s 20 years of EU membership, the bloc’s problems were bigger than they appeared because its 15 member states at the time had been unprepared for the 2004 enlargement and “Europe’s reunification”, and because the Western European elite’s mindset was determined “by the centuries-old mentality that they are better, richer and more skilled than us in everything”.

But Hungary, he said, “hasn’t come to the point of ending our relationship with the EU, because now is the time to turn to it with even greater love, care, and momentum”.

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May 3, 2024

Fidesz is still repeating that Brussels is pro-war

Secretary Hungary Slovakia fidesz brussels

Brussels is “pro-war”, and instead of building Europe’s peace, it is building war, Tamás Menczer, the communications director of ruling Fidesz, said on Wednesday.

Marking the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s EU accession, Menczer said in a video on Facebook that at the time of joining the bloc, Hungary and the EU had two shared goals that there should be peace and prosperity in Europe. “But today we’re missing two of these: peace and prosperity,” he said. “That’s why we say that change is needed in Brussels.”

Menczer said the EU had promised “that we would respect each other; that member states would respect each other and the Brussels-based institutions would respect member states”. “Yet we Hungarians are not respected. They blackmail and pressure us because of our pro-peace stance,” he said. “Brussels is pro-war and isn’t building Europe’s peace, but war. That’s why we say that change is needed in Brussels.”

He said all of the decisions taken by the EU on sanctions affecting the economy and the energy sector were and are destroying the European standard of living, and urged voters to send MEPs to the EU on June 9 who truly valued Europe’s peace and prosperity.

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May 2, 2024

Hungarian FM Szijjártó: Countries that are brave enough to be pro-peace need to cooperate

“Cooperation is needed between countries that are brave enough to speak up for an early peace in Ukraine, which could promote a diplomatic settlement,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Dushanbe on Tuesday.

According to a statement from the foreign ministry, Szijjártó held talks with Sirojiddin Muhriddin, his Tajik counterpart, in Tajikistan’s capital.

“Some political leaders of Europe, unfortunately, think that they are at war and so is Europe, while it is not true: the war is between Ukraine and Russia,” he stressed. He said the longer the war lasted, the greater the risk of further escalation was.

Szijjártó noted that he was meeting his Tajik counterpart for the 11th time, “which shows the importance of bilateral ties for both countries”.

Hungary and Tajikistan have signed an agreement on security cooperation and coordination of the war against crime, the ministry said citing Szijjártó.

Szijjártó said after talks with Muhriddin that relations between the two countries were based on mutual respect and the agreement on security cooperation and the fight against crime was the result of common views they shared about the importance of peace and the fight againts terrorism.

He added that similarly to Hungary, Tajikistan also called for a peace agreement in Ukraine as soon as possible.

Hungary is preparing to fulfil the rotating presidency of the European Union and priorities for the community in the upcoming period now include strengthening cooperation with central Asia, he said.

“No wonder, since the central Asian region is developing very dynamically and the failed sanctions against Russia that caused more damage to Europe also resulted in the rearrangement of east-west trade routes, with the role of central Asia having increased considerably for Europe’s trade with the East,” he added.

He said that he had agreed with his Tajik counterpart that an enhanced partnership agreement between Tajikistan and the EU would be finalised during the Hungarian presidency.

“Additionally, we will ensure that Tajikistan receives financial support from the EU for the success of its border protection efforts, considering that Tajikistan has a vely long 1,500 km border with Afghanistan from where we know that the threat of terrorism continually starts towards Europe,” he said.

“And if the Tajiks cannot hold this back and they cannot protect the Tajik-Afghan border, then Europe will face an even more severe challenge of terrorism in the upcoming period,” he added.

He assured Muhriddin of Hungary’s support for Tajikistan to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council by the end of the decade and said that the government will maintain its offer of annual twenty scholarships for Tajik students to study at Hungarian universities.

Szijjártó: ‘Nuclear war madness’ can only be ended by voting for pro-peace politicians

The conflict in Ukraine must be ended swiftly to prevent “nuclear war madness”, and that is possible only with a surge of pro-peace forces at the European parliamentary elections, the foreign minister said.

Szijjártó said the war was posing increasing challenges “due to the increasing degree of massacre and destruction, the growing weapon deliveries, and because some European politicians are whipping themselves into war madness, to the point where nuclear war madness has also appeared in the European discourse.”

“War madness in Western Europe has reached a new dimension and turned into a sort of nuclear war madness. We have heard the French and Polish presidents speak about the possibility of nuclear war.”

Szijjártó said that should the war in Ukraine spread further, it was likely to escalate into a third world war and possibly a nuclear war, “and in that case, everything and everyone will be lost, which no one with any common sense can wish for.”

Szijjártó called for a ceasefire and peace talks as soon as possible. “The European parliamentary elections on June 9 could be a great step in that direction, because people can save Europe and the world from the madness of a nuclear war,” he said, and called on Hungarians to cast their votes, “and don’t forget . that nuclear war madness can be ended by voting for Fidesz.”

Orbán: Europe balancing the edge between peace, war

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Kaposvár, in southern Hungary, on the campaign trail, where he had talks with Mayor Károly Szita and met voters, the PM’s press chief said on Tuesday.

Orbán said “the world is balancing on a knife’s edge”, adding that humanity was on the border between peace and a devastating war that would destroy everything.

“In the past two world wars, we Hungarians learnt that war was a bad thing, a devastating flood that carries everything away. First of all, it brings death and suffering, but it also takes families’ savings, the house and animals. It tramples countries’ economy into the ground and shoots prices into the sky. So when we raise our voices for peace, we’re defending not only human lives but our economy too,” Bertalan Havasi cited Orbán as saying.

The most important thing is to create peace, Orbán said. “Instead of pro-war leftist representatives, we must send pro-peace, right-wing representatives into European institutions,” he said.

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April 30, 2024

Hungarian defence minister: Most important thing is peace

szalay-bobrovniczky kristóf hungarian defence minister

Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky told the Budapest Security Dialogue conference on Friday that Europe “is strangely consumed by war fever”, even though “the most important thing is peace.”

Szalay-Bobrovniczky said at the second day of the conference held together with a defence industry expo in Budapest: “Everyone is talking about the war, yet peace is our greatest treasure.”

The conference was highlighting the importance of European defence capabilities, the minister said, adding that central Europe and the Western Balkans “must raise their voices in that very important question.”

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Szaly-Bobrovniczky said the conflict was constantly “carrying the threat of escalation”. The war, he said, was at a critical point: “the West has decided that the conflict should be globalised, and it has now reached all corners of the world”. The Russian aggressor’s army, meanwhile, has been boosted so that “we don’t know who could stop it”, the Hungarian defence minister said.

The only solution would be an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, he added.

The Hungarian defence minister said the conflict in Israel should be “watched carefully and handled responsively”, as it also threatens world trade.

Further, a lack of security, uncertainty and war are also at the root of terrorism and migration, he said.

Hungary can’t afford not to be strong, he said. While the country is a member of NATO, which is “the ultimate security guarantee”, it cannot rely exclusively on external help, he said. Hence the extremely robust military development plan, he added.

Meanwhile, Europe must do more for its own safety, he said. The EU’s enlargement would be the best way of boosting security at the Western Balkans, he added.

Slovak Defence minister Robert Kalinak agreed that European integration was key to peace and stability, and lamented that Western Balkans integration was lagging behind.

The EU promised integration to Western Balkans countries in 2003, but Croatia was the only one to become a member so far, he added, and welcomed that the topic was returning to the EU’s agenda.

Kalinak also said Hungarian-Slovak cooperation was the best yet, “and the key to that success is to concentrate only on topics we agree on.”

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April 26, 2024

Hungarian justice minister: Brussels does not focus on real problems

The European Union is facing huge challenges, but Brussels is “submerged in ideological disputes and gripped by war fever”, the Hungarian justice minister told MTI from Ankara by phone on Thursday.

Bence Tuzson said that “Brussels supports migration and war rather than focusing, for example, on competitiveness”.

The minister said he had held talks with his Turkish counterpart, the house speaker, the head of the judicial committee and the leader of Turkiye’s digitalisation organisation.

Turkiye is indispensable for the European Union in terms of security and competitiveness; cooperation is mutually beneficial for both sides, the Hungarian justice minister said.

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April 26, 2024

Ruling Fidesz is afraid of a migration wave towards Europe

Hungary migration southern border fidesz

Kinga Gál, the head of ruling Fidesz’s European Parliament Group, has called for preventing an aggravation of the conflict between Iran and Israel, warning that it could set off a major migration wave towards Europe.

Speaking to Hungarian reporters on Wednesday after an EP debate on Iran’s attack on Israel earlier this month, Gál said the April 14 attack carried the risk that the entirety of the Middle East could turn into a war zone, which would pose a threat to Europe’s and the entire world’s peace and security.

“The conflict must be prevented from becoming an inter-state war and from setting the entire region alight,” the Fidesz member said. “This calls for both sides to exercise restraint.”

The MEP warned that an aggravation of the conflict would have severe consequences, such as triggering a major migration wave towards Europe.

“We need to prevent the emergence of another major migration wave which would threaten Hungary and the whole of Europe,” she said.

Hungary’s interests lie in there being peace in the Middle East, Gál said, adding that the Hungarian government was sticking to its pro-peace stance despite the EP’s plan to “punish Hungary by adopting a position accusing it of spreading Russian propaganda”. Hungary, she said, would stick to its pro-peace stance concerning the Russia-Ukraine war in spite of any resolution condemning the country. She called for a ceasefire and the start of peace talks in the conflict.

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April 24, 2024

Orbán cabinet: Joe Biden attacks us because we are pro-peace

US President Joe Biden’s “pro-war” Democratic government has again attacked Hungary in its democracy report because of Hungary’s pro-peace position, the communications director of the ruling alliance of Fidesz and the Christian Democrats said on Tuesday.

Joe Biden attacked Hungary?

Tamás Menczer said on Facebook that “the obvious cause of the attack is that we stand on the side of peace and we do not allow them to push us into this war [in Ukraine]”.

Menczer, a former foreign affairs and foreign economy state secretary, said a report prepared by the Hungarian foreign ministry in connection with the state of democracy in the US showed that four million illegal migrants were arriving to the US through the southern border per year and “they almost all disappear on the radar of the authorities”.

He cited Florida Senator Marco Rubio as saying that it was the first time in modern US history that the southern border was being controlled by Mexican drug cartels instead of the US government.

Surveys show that 75 percent of Americans consider the immigrant crisis a serious problem and despite this, Biden was “destroying” border protection measures, Menczer said.

The US has also accused Hungary of anti-Semitism, yet in reality, members of the Jewish community are in the greatest safety in Hungary among all European countries, he said.

“Considering all these facts, our American friends should in fact mind their own business,” Menczer said.

“No matter how much they try to push us into the war, no matter what pressure they put on us, we are on the side of peace,” he added.

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April 24, 2024

Expert: Aggressive Russian provocations on the Hungarian border are probable if Russia wins

Could Russia mean a danger to the Hungarian border’s peace? Security expert Ferenc Kaiser warns that while the chances of a full Russian occupation of Ukraine are slim, the consequences would be dire for Europe. Hungary could find itself on the wrong side of a new “Iron Curtain”. In addition, the Hungarian border would be faced with increased Russian provocations. Additionally, many ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia might flee due to Moscow’s harsh treatment of minorities.

As RTL writes, the chances of Russia winning the war are quite low. However, if it does happen, the aftermath would be catastrophic for Europe, including Hungary. Ferenc Kaiser, security and defence policy expert, and Associate Professor at the National University of Public Service, told RTL what Hungarians should fear if the worst does happen.

Apocalyptic outlook

Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó and Russian Sergei Lavrov — Lavrov and Szijjártó. Photo: FB/Szijjártó

As tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate, there is growing concern about what would happen if Russia were to fully invade Ukraine. According to the expert, the situation could turn apocalyptic, with over ten million Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Europe and Ukraine itself being left almost empty.

If Russia were to take control of Ukraine, it would need a lot of people to keep order. Russia would likely try to make everyone in the area act more Russian and erase Ukrainian identity. There is even a worry that Russia might commit terrible acts like genocide or ethnic cleansing, based on past events, like what happened in Bucha.

Tension at the Hungarian border

For Hungary, this would mean suddenly having Russia as a neighbour. “We would now find ourselves on the western side of the Iron Curtain in this new Cold War,” says Kaiser. There would likely be a lot of tension along the Hungarian border, with Russia trying to provoke Hungary, as they have done with Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states.

A threat for Hungarians living in Transcarpathia?

Even though Hungary seeks constructive cooperation with Russia, the threat of aggression from Russia is still real. Many Hungarians living in Transcarpathia, a region of Ukraine with a Hungarian minority, might feel they have to leave because of how harshly Russia might treat them compared to Ukraine.

While Ukraine has had its problems with treating minorities fairly, they are nothing compared to what Russia might do. So, it is understandable why many Hungarians in Transcarpathia might choose to leave their motherland if things got bad. Thus, in addition to provocations on the Hungarian border, Transcarpathian Hungarians might also be in danger.

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April 20, 2024

Balázs Orbán: Guaranteeing Hungary’s security a priority

Orbán's right hand Russia-Ukraine war balázs orbán

Since European leaders are sticking to their “pro-war stance”, the government continues to work to guarantee Hungary’s security and peace, the prime minister’s political director said in Brussels on Thursday.

Speaking to journalists on the last day of an informal European summit, Balázs Orbán said an increasing number of European leaders “are following a pro-war stance, despite the news from the front”, and were working to increase weapon deliveries and military support for Ukraine.

“Hungary still stands alone with its pro-peace stance. The Russia-Ukraine conflict does not have a solution on the battlefield,” he said.

The sooner the parties start negotiating, “the likelier that we can avoid the outbreak of the third world war”, Balázs Orbán said.

At the same time, until European member states complete that “strategic turnaround”, the Hungarian government will continue to work to ensure the peace and safety of the country, he said.

That will involve staying away from war preparations and will not allow Hungary to be dragged into decisions on EU military support… We will ensure that Hungary will not appear to be a part of the conflict…” he said.

A new “less hawkish” European leadership after the 9 June European parliamentary elections would allow more space for pro-peace proposals, Balázs Orbán said.

The political director said the “bad decisions of the past five years” had resulted in Europe’s deteriorating competitiveness. One of the most important priorities of the Hungarian presidency will be to foster a “competitiveness turnaround”, he added.

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April 19, 2024

BREAKING NEWS – Terror alert heightened in Hungary, says pro-government site – UPDATE

According to Magyar Nemzet, the terror alert level in Hungary has been heightened following Sunday’s Defence Council meeting. However, the government has yet to issue an official statement.

As previously mentioned, Viktor Orbán convened the Defence Council on Sunday in response to Iran’s attack on Israel. Following the meeting, he expressed a commitment to safeguarding Hungarian families from the repercussions of global conflicts. More details are available here.

According to a Magyar Nemzet article, the Prime Minister’s announcement prompted an escalation in the terror alert level, as per his request.

Elevated terror alert: what does this entail?

It means enhanced intelligence sharing, heightened security measures for high-profile facilities and dignitaries and increased police presence in public spaces, mass gatherings and Jewish-affiliated institutions.

It is probable that security measures for key figures in the country, such as the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the House, members of the Government or heads of the judiciary, have already been bolstered. Citizens can expect to encounter more armed patrols in major urban areas, and the Hungarian Defence Forces may also be deployed.

Magyar Nemzet reports that the heightened security measures will remain in place until the situation improves or could be escalated further if the threat persists.

Terror alert classification in Hungary

Hungary defines the terrorist threat level on a four-point scale in accordance with relevant legislation (Government Decision No.1824/2015 (19.XI.) on the uniform implementation order of counter-terrorism tasks), wherein 1 represents the highest level and 4 the lowest.

The Minister of the Interior, with the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee’s recommendation or independently, holds the authority to issue, modify or abolish these classifications with the Defence Council’s approval.

Read also: Budapest Airport cancelled flight to Israel!

UPDATE

Government increased the threat of terrorism in Hungary? – here is the official answer

April 16, 2024

PM Orbán about Middle East conflict: What we feared has happened

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a Facebook post about the Middle East conflict on Sunday, vowed that his government “will do everything to ensure that the wars going on in the world don’t threaten the peace and safety of Hungarian families.”

In a video message after a meeting of the Defence Council, the prime minister condemned Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel.

The attack, he said, threatened an interstate war in the Middle East, which posed a grave danger to the entire world, including Hungary.

Orbán said he had called a meeting of the Defence Council on Sunday to assess the conflict’s national security and economic effects on Hungary.

“I have instructed the interior minister and senior counter-terrorism officers to guarantee the safety of the Hungarian people using every means at their disposal,” he said.

“On Tuesday, I will travel to Brussels to assess the current war situation with European leaders,” Orbán said. “We must do everything to ensure that the wars going on in the world don’t threaten the peace and safety of Hungarian families.”

The video message in Hungarian:

The Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday, which was a response to the current Iranian attack and left several people dead, was not commented on or condemned by the Hungarian government.

After Iran attacked Israel, many local Hungarians contacted the embassy, details HERE.

As we wrote in February, Hungary and Iran both are interested in developing economic cooperation in sectors not subject to sanctions, such as the pharmaceutical industry, the health and food industries and water management, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Tehran, details HERE.

April 15, 2024

Fidesz MEP Deutsch: Hungary ‘under attack’ for pro-peace stance

Hungarian MEP Tamás Deutsch fidesz tisza

Hungary is being attacked in Brussels for its pro-peace stance and for rejecting gender ideology and illegal migration, “even at a plenary held at the end of the last session of the European Parliament,” Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch said.

In a video on Facebook, Deutsch noted that the EP was slated to table a resolution condemning Hungary, among other matters, and pledged to “protect Hungarian interests”. “No matter the machinations of the dollar left and its European comrades, Hungary will stick to its pro-peace stance and reject gender ideology madness, protect its sovereignty and reject illegal migration,” he said.

He slammed the EP for tabling two proposals condemning Hungary, rather than tackling “Europe’s deteriorating economic performance, the problems of farmers, or skyrocketing energy prices and terrible inflation caused by the Brussels response to the Russia-Ukraine war”.

The EP’s leftist majority “has also decided to adopt a resolution slamming Hungary and echoing the dollar left’s well-known lies at the closing plenary in two weeks,” he said.

Despite all the pressure, Hungary will reject accepting migrants, Fidesz MEP Deutsch said.

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April 11, 2024

The unbelievable story of the only black Hungarian soldier of WWI

Did you know that a black soldier fought on the side of Hungary in World War I? Even the name of the hero of these conflicting stories is not known for sure, and his existence was forgotten already during the war. However, one thing is certain: he fought on the side of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy of his own free will.

The only black Hungarian soldier

The world-changing First World War, which ended in South Africa, radically redefined the image of Hungary. The disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Trianon peace treaty meant that Hungary’s important role in world politics disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The Monarchy, which lost 1.2 million soldiers in the war, witnessed countless sad, interesting or even strange stories during the war. According to 24.hu, for instance, immediately after the battles started, the Hungarian hussars of the army had to attack the machine guns with swords. The next year, a slapable Italian puppet was erected on Margaret Island. In the streets of the capital, they tried to persuade the population to help identify the enemy spies by putting up wall hangings.

These stories have been surfacing as the centenary approached. However, there has been little mention of the only black soldier in the Hungarian army, even though the man surrounded by conflicting legends certainly existed and proved his worth on the battlefield, 24.hu writes.

The first mention of the soldier

The first mention of the black soldier appeared in the Pesti Hírlap newspaper barely four months after the Sarajevo assassination and three after the declaration of war on 28 July against Serbia. A very short text entitled The Dark-Skinned Wants to Go to War (A szerecsen harcba akar menni, available in full HERE) reveals that Perris Simon had come to Berlin from somewhere in Congo, and from there, he was taken to Pest as a child, from where he ended up in Oradea.

The “black-skinned, grinning lad in the red livery” then became a doorman at a cinema in Oradea, and “speaks Hungarian like a Bihar-county magistrate, not to mention his swearing”, the short article reads.

Perris Simon was a “sad man”

According to the article, however, Simon’s life was far from perfect. “Since the world has been at war, the cinema doorman [corrected to a non-offensive term – ed.] has been a very sad man, and more than once, the grinning lad has been caught crying bitterly, burying his black head in his hands”, as he envied those who went to war or returned from it injured, but was never allowed to be a soldier. He did not have Hungarian citizenship, so after unsuccessful attempts at various levels of the army and in the conscription offices, he wrote to the Minister of Defence to help his cause.

“I am very ashamed that, as a Hungarian, I have to sit at home when someone else can fight the Russians. I don’t mind being a corpsman, just take me and give me a rifle.

I can shoot a swallow in flight, I’d have one hell of a time with a couple of Russians,

the anonymous journalist quotes the man.

“His magnificent teeth”

In January 1915, the news of “the black patriot” (full article HERE) reached the editorial office of the Budapesti Hírlap daily newspaper through their correspondent in Oradea. The short article says the following about the soldier: “he learned Hungarian by flashing his magnificent teeth at the entrance of the cinema, and then became a friend of the wine-drinking coachmen sitting in the small pubs.” According to this story, the black soldier was actually called Ali Mahmud. Here he is described as coming from Senegal, not Congo.

Ali, according to this version of the story, easily passed the enlistment hurdle, got his uniform and was learning how to use a gun to prove himself.

According to the newspaper, in his spare time, the man would walk the streets in his uniform and salute his superiors, who, along with passers-by, might sometimes think that

“some jolly footsoldier painted his face with blacking, but jokes are not appropriate for serious times”.

“I want to deserve a Hungarian girl!”

As some other account describes, his colonel once asked him: how come he enlisted when he didn’t have to? Ali, who already knew enough Hungarian, replied:

I want to deserve a Hungarian girl!

According to other stories, he was not from Congo or Senegal, but from Illinois in the United States, and his name was not Simon or Ali, but Mr Bobby.

What happened to the man in the last years of the war or afterwards? What was his real name? Did he eventually marry a Hungarian girl and start a family in the capital? The newspapers of the first decades of the 20th century are silent about all this. We can only hope that Simon, Ali or Bobby, who went to war for his new country, finally found his calling and lived a happy life in Hungary between the two world wars.

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March 19, 2024

France leads the voices raising the threat of world war, says Hungarian FM Szijjártó

With the war going on for more than two years in Ukraine, the situation is the most critical yet in Europe, and the “specter of a world war looms ever larger,” the foreign minister said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that the US Secretary of State will also join the meeting through a virtual call.

“Western European leaders must grasp that their strategy regarding the war has failed and they would have achieved a ceasefire long ago had they invested as much into brokering peace as they did into weapon deliveries,” he said.

Meanwhile, he insisted France was leading the voices “stoking the danger of world war”. Sending land troops to Ukraine threatened with regional escalation, and was “diametrically opposed to NATO decisions so far”, he added.

“We don’t want a war in Europe, and we hope our European colleagues will also cease playing with fire,” he said.

As we wrote a few days earlier, in an interview with Le Monde, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Hungary “knows the consequences of occupation by a fascist regime”, but its messages to Ukraine are radical. He also said that the world should have put Putin in his place at the beginning of the war, details HERE.

Also we wrote earlier, the Russian Embassy in Budapest issued a war statement.

March 18, 2024

Most W European countries have seen a renewed of modern-day antisemitism, but not Hungary, says Foreign Minister

The Hungarian government’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict is “clear and unchanged”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook late on Monday.

Szijjártó said he had told Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for the diaspora, that Hungary “condemns the Hamas terrorist organisation’s attack on Israel in the strongest possible way and recognises Israel’s right to defend itself.” He added that the success of the fight against terrorism was in the interest not only of Israel but that of the international community too.

Hungary is committed to a “responsible migration policy … that ensures security to all religious communities in the country,” the minister said.

“Unlike most countries in western Europe, Hungary has not seen a revival of modern-age anti-Semitism and we will not allow that to happen in the future,” he said.

Szijjártó said he was proud that “one of the largest Jewish communities in central Europe lives in peace and calm in Hungary, preserving its identity, traditions, and religion.”

The minister said Hungary would do everything possible to secure the release of the only remaining Hungarian citizen among the people taken hostage by Hamas.

One against all: Orbán cabinet rejects inclusion of Israeli settlers on sanctions list

Hungary alone has withheld support for putting Israeli settlers on the EU sanctions list, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said after a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday.

Discussion of the issue had been “extremely tense”, Szijjártó told a press conference after the meeting, adding that no agreement was reached on imposing sanctions against Israeli settlers that had been advocated by several EU member states.

“At the start there were one or two … other countries that had similar position to ours. Their position slowly shifted,” he said, adding that in the end, Hungary was the only one not to support the proposal. Our article: Czech government backs down, only the Orbán government vetoes EU sanctions against Israel

The minister said adding settlers to the sanctions list would “only exacerbate tensions in a country that suffered a terrorist attack”. He said Israel’s counter-terrorist operation not only was in Israel’s interest but in that of the entire world.

He added that the measure would weaken Israel and heighten tensions in the West Bank, where fighting could spread.

“I think this must be prevented at all costs,” he said.

Szijjártó said at the same time that new sanctions should be mounted against Hamas.

“It had appeared that there was agreement on this, but several member states linked the two issues, which is completely unacceptable…” he said, adding that it was wrong and “anti-Israel” to pair Hamas and Israeli settlers together. Hamas, he said, should come under “the heaviest possible sanctions”, but it was unjustified to put settlers in the same category. Regarding the situation in Lebanon, the minister said preventing the spread of the conflict was of paramount importance, warning that failure to do so may lead to the whole of the Middle East being “engulfed in flames”, with a knock-on impact on European security.

“This is why I initiated … that the European Union should give the legitimate Lebanese government maximum support”, with the goal of preventing the war from spreading, Szijjártó said.

Hungary has provided 500,000 US dollars in aid to Egypt and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem with the aim of protecting the civilian population.

“Of course, we urge that the hostages be released immediately,” he said, adding that this should happen without strings attached. “A realistic agreement must be reached, and I trust that the Qataris and the Egyptians will succeed here,” he said.

Alexander Katsuba: What should be the vision of Ukrainian economic policy?

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Before the annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas, and even amidst the full-scale invasion, the discussion in Ukraine has been consistently focused on the need for a strong economy, a “national producer,” “well-paid jobs,” “business rights guarantees,” and “ending law enforcement abuse.” Every year, we seem to revisit these topics anew. However, instead of discussing strategy, we consistently focus on local problems and economic tactics. While one might think that war is not the best time for such discussions, considering that the war has exposed the inadequacy of the old Ukrainian model, now is precisely the time to talk about a new model.

Economic policy, or rather its almost complete absence over the past 33 years, has been beneficial only for simple business models, mostly of the resource-based type. This resulted in low taxes for large businesses, significant interest from tax authorities and law enforcement towards small and medium-sized businesses, a lack of motivation to pay employees decent wages, and no defined state priorities for development.

The lack of any long-term planning has led to Ukraine not investing in professional education, quality higher education, and applied sciences, which could have served as a basis for a new industrialization and the creation of a technological economy. Consequently, a social-political model has gradually formed that corresponds to economic uncertainty – populism as the basis of politics and constant struggles for “flows” as the content of Ukrainian politics. If almost the only model of economic success is rent, then the struggle is for rent. This, by the way, is one of the fundamental reasons why Ukraine was unprepared for Russian aggression.

Ironically, this unbalanced resource model hindered the development of resource sectors as well. The gas market, which is almost native to me, was effectively closed to adequate private investment for many years, the energy market is still highly monopolized, and the Ukrainian metallurgy has gradually degraded from primarily steel production to exporting ore. The Russian invasion only further highlighted these obvious shortcomings – we have virtually no complex industry that could be quickly converted to military rails. And we are critically dependent on the help of Europe and America not only for weapons supplies but also for setting up production lines for ammunition and equipment. Moreover, China, which is quite an unpredictable partner, remains the main supplier of components for almost all drones produced in Ukraine.

What to do about it? Right now, amidst intense combat operations, the focus should be on not complicating the lives of businesses. The state should concentrate its efforts on transparency and ensuring the normal functioning of courts, as well as restricting the ability of corrupt law enforcement to hinder the operation of enterprises. Additionally, I am convinced that we can already work on creating specialized industrial zones in the western part of the country. This includes guaranteeing new productions a transparent and accessible scheme for connecting to utilities. Currently, when you want to open a production facility, you often have to wait a year for electricity connection. This unhealthy situation can be easily addressed by the state through adequate regulation.

In the long term, we need to work on shaping an economic model that takes into account both the strengths and weaknesses of Ukraine. We must realistically assess ourselves and our economic potential. Our two main long-term weaknesses are proximity to Russia (its aggression and threat are likely to persist) and demographics (Ukrainians are an aging nation that has experienced the largest population outflow in Europe since World War II). Both of these problems have no simple solutions and must be considered in building a new economic model. Our two main strengths are the presence of a large resource potential (both agricultural, energy, and metallurgical) and proximity to the world’s largest market – Europe.

The demographic challenge requires us not only to work on repatriating Ukrainians who have left but also to focus on quality rather than quantity of the workforce. Quality education. Quality healthcare. An attractive social model. High-skilled and technological industry.

The security challenge requires prioritizing the military-industrial complex, where Ukraine can become, based on its historical experience in military industry, one of the world leaders. Producing weapons and equipment for ourselves, for future NATO partners, and for all countries that are forced to be constantly prepared to defend against dictators.

Ukrainian resources should be used not within the framework of the old oligarchic model but as an opportunity for the development of a technological economy. We already have a successful experience where restrictions on timber exports helped the Ukrainian furniture industry become a successful exporter to the European Union. Ukrainian furniture is sold in Europe. The same can be done with metal products, industrial equipment, and weapons. For example, significant lithium deposits have been discovered in Ukrainian Donbas, which are critically important for the “green transition”. Should Ukraine export lithium? Or should it attract investments to produce batteries and other deep processing products? In the new economic policy, it’s the latter.

Finally, our integration into the Western world and the European Union create significant opportunities for export-oriented industries. We already see how the Ukrainian agricultural sector is creating real or perceived problems for Polish, Hungarian, and Romanian farmers.

But our opportunity for economic expansion in Europe is not only about exporting grains and other agricultural raw materials to the EU. Considering how quickly instability is growing worldwide and how quickly trade routes from Asia to Europe are becoming dangerous due to terrorists and dictators, Ukraine can become an industrial base where some production of European companies from East and Southeast Asia will relocate. Yes, this will require us to address fundamental problems, such as the specific nature of our judicial system, but without this, any development of Ukraine will be impossible.

Therefore, right now, when Ukrainian politicians, economists, sociologists, and our international partners are discussing the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, we need to work on the problems and opportunities of Ukraine in strategic economic development. Because without this, neither long-term security nor the survival of the Ukrainian state and people as a nation will be possible. We need to stop stepping on rakes.

Alexander Katsuba — Ukrainian entrepreneur, expert in the energy sector, owner of the company ALFA GAZ.

Disclaimer: the author(s) of the sponsored article(s) are solely responsible for any opinions expressed or offers made. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of Daily News Hungary, and the editorial staff cannot be held responsible for their veracity.

February 14, 2024