Orbán: Biden went too far, Trump is the hope for peace

On Tuesday, Viktor Orbán spoke at an event organised by the German political magazine Cicero and the German daily, Berliner Zeitung in Berlin. Among others, he stated that in the war in Ukraine, the ceasefire should not happen between Ukraine and Russia, but between the United States and Russia, and should be negotiated with the Americans based on the reality of power.

The Hungarian prime minister said that resources are the essence of war, and while the Russians have almost unlimited resources in terms of energy, soldiers and manpower, the only reason why Ukraine has sufficient resources is because it is being helped by the West and the United States.

Orbán also said that US President Joe Biden went too far when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal or a mass murderer, among other things. Therefore, in his opinion, the hope for peace is former US President Donald Trump.

The prime minister said that he was primarily looking after Hungary's interests in the conflict in Ukraine, and that the country was in the direct radius of influence of the war in Ukraine, which is why the country also feels strongly threatened. He said that while Hungary is doing everything it can for peace, it is not willing to help the Ukrainians while simultaneously damaging the Hungarian people.

The Hungarian government's opinion of the war is the same as that of the EU

Orbán said that the international debate is too focused on Putin, but he is not interested in Putin at all, "I am interested in Hungary and in Europe, in what the consequences of the war are for us". Orbán also made it clear that the Hungarian government thinks about the war the same thing the EU does: it is an act of aggression, because Russia violated international law.

According to the State News Agency, (MTI), questions were mainly put to Orbán by the leaders of the organising press outlets, and the Prime Minister told them that Hungary belongs to the peace camp, "I am in favour of an immediate ceasefire and immediate peace talks".

In Berlin, Orbán also said that Hungary had already lost some 200 of its citizens who had died as conscript soldiers at the front. (TN: There are around 150 000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine's Transcarpathian region bordering Hungary. Most of them are dual citizens.) He said it was a big problem that, unlike in Crimea, this time the conflict had not been isolated. He said it was a mistake that, whereas he visited Russian President Vladimir Putin on a mission of peace before the war, no one on the Western side felt the need to negotiate.

According to the Prime Minister, the Crimean crisis did not turn into a war because the Germans, led by then-chancellor Angela Merkel, immediately called the parties to negotiate. According to a Deutsche Welle video from the scene, Orbán thanked Merkel for her stance at the time.

The policy of sanctions is primitive in its implementation and disastrous in its effects

The Hungarian prime minister called Brussels' sanctions policy against Russia primitive in its design and disastrous in its effect, stressing that if the sanctions had been properly designed, energy prices would not be "sky-high" and European economies would not be threatened with "ruin".

Orbán said that sanctions should only be imposed "intelligently". In contrast, the EU's policy towards Russia shows that "a dwarf is sanctioning a giant" and that "this is killing the dwarf". He believes that the policy of sanctions needs to be rethought and that we need an energy supply system in which the EU does not merely "change hands", i.e. replacing Russian dependence with American dependence – which is politically "convenient but not good" – but it becomes independent.

After the Berlin panel discussion, Viktor Orbán's post on Twitter published before the discussion gained new meaning. He wrote: "After my first day on Twitter, I have only one question in my mind: where is my friend Donald Trump?"

In March, Donald Trump said that if he were President of the United States, he would send nuclear submarines to Russia's shores to put pressure on Putin.