Orbán: Brussels is a constant security threat to Hungary
October 13. 2023. – 09:34 AM
Most Friday mornings, Hungary’s Prime Minister gives an interview on one of the public radio stations. Since the independent media has not had a chance to interview him for several years, these weekly radio interviews are the only opportunity to find out what the leader of the country thinks about current events, how he sees his opponents and any issues at hand.
This Friday, Viktor Orbán's radio interview began with the Prime Minister reflecting on the events that have unfolded in Israel over the past week.
"Hungary has always opposed terrorism", said the Prime Minister, who hopes to get all Hungarians out of Israel. "So far we are not aware of any Hungarians among the victims," he added.
"If a country suffers a terrorist attack, it has the right to take steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again," Orbán said. In his opinion, this is a war against terrorism, not an Arab-Israeli war between states. If that were the case, it would destabilise the situation in the Middle East which would produce tremors in world politics which would also be felt in Hungary. Therefore, Orbán said, the diplomatic community must do everything to prevent a war in the Middle East.
Things were just beginning to look up in the Middle East, according to Orbán, who added that Arab-Israeli relations improved a lot under Donald Trump's administration. In his opinion, despite the terrorist attack, the effort should be made to salvage the rapprochement of recent years.
The Hungarian Prime Minister said that sympathy demonstrations, expressing support for terrorist organisations have been taking place all over Europe. They also tried to organize them here, but this is not allowed in Hungary.
The Hungarian government stopped migration in 2015 with the fence, which, he said, was important, because with migration comes terrorism. Orbán also said that the Hungarian government must protect Hungarian citizens who are Jewish, they must not feel threatened.
The threat of terror inevitably accompanies migration
During the 2015 migration crisis, vast numbers of Arab refugees were allowed into Western Europe, including representatives of Hamas. "This is a direct and serious risk for all Western European countries," Orbán said. But the Hungarian government had its heart and head in the right place in 2015, and through legislation and the fence built along the country's southern border stopped "the threat of terror which inevitably accompanies migration".
“With all due respect, they are blind”
– Orbán said when asked about the EU migration package, which the Hungarian government opposes. According to him, the EU is inviting migrants into Europe, and wants to distribute refugees among member states. "They want to force a bad thing on us, the situation is absurd," he added. There is only one model in Europe that has worked in migration policy: the Hungarian one. “There are no migrants here. Zero. And there won’t be any either.”
The previous, written agreement has been pushed aside through legal force and now they want to impose certain legislation on us, he said of the migration package. He added that a change is needed in Brussels. In the EP elections next June, a significant change must be achieved in the European Union, “the current leaders must leave, because defending Hungary with people like them is impossible”.
"Brussels doesn't confront us, it attacks from behind", Orbán said, adding that Brussels is not helping, but rather destroying things. In fact
“Brussels is a constant security threat to Hungary, so we have to remove them from our security system.”
On why he's travelling to China
According to Orbán, there is a big debate in the world today about whether the economies of the West and the East should be separated or linked. The Hungarian government believes they should be linked, which is why Orbán is travelling to China next week.
The fantastic minds of Hungary
Commenting on Hungary's two new Nobel laureates, Orbán said they both came from "the backwoods of Hungary", not from the inner city of Pest, and they did not study in foreign high schools. There are fantastic minds in Hungary indeed, capable of fantastic achievements if provided with a little opportunity. According to the Prime Minister, the message of the success of Katalin Karikó and Ferenc Krausz is: “Don't be afraid, Hungarians, you are talented enough to succeed even in the most difficult times!”
Viktor Orbán avoids critical questions at home. It’s been years since he gave an interview to independent media. However, for several years, most Friday mornings he has been a regular guest on state-owned Kossuth Rádió, where he is interviewed by a lead editor of the public broadcasting service (operating from an annual budget of 320 million euros). Katalin Nagy has been almost exclusively the only person allowed to interview Orbán on the state-owned channel throughout his third and fourth term with a two-thirds majority in parliament. She has received the state decoration of the Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary and doesn’t shy away from asking questions.