Orbán is proud of his relationship with Putin, he said in Brussels

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Thursday that he was proud of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he had met in China this month, despite the European Union's continued efforts to isolate Moscow over its war against Ukraine.

Orbán made the remarks upon arriving at the European Council summit in Brussels. "We would like to do everything to have peace. Therefore we keep open all the communication lines to the Russians, otherwise there will be no chance for peace. This is a strategy, and we are proud of it," Reuters has quoted Orbán as saying.

"We are the only ones to speak on behalf and in favour of peace, which would be in the interest of everybody in Europe," he said.

On increasing the budget: a lack of “political arguments”

The Hungarian Prime Minister was asked about his opinion on increasing the EU's long-term budget (he had earlier called this move unacceptable.). "They want to collect more money from member states, including us, so that they can use it towards migration... for asylum policy" and " give it to the Ukrainians", the Prime Minister said. Even though the European Commission has asked for money for agreements with non-EU countries aiming at curbing migration, such as the ones planned with Tunisia and Egypt, Orbán stressed that "we don't want to give money to migrants".

Nor does the Hungarian government intend to give any money to Ukraine, "unless we see some very well-founded proposals". Previously, Orbán has implied, sometimes in a hardly veiled manner that he is using support for the Ukrainians to blackmail the EU in exchange for EU payments withheld from Hungary. In a speech he gave in Tusványos this past summer, he said that a budget increase “requires unanimity. And then one simply has to hold out the bag and that's it. That's how it goes. Like this. That's the plan.”

Arriving at Thursday's summit, he said that the current proposal

lacks technical and "political arguments".

"They are simply saying that we should give more money. It's not going to work this way, so we're going to reject that as well. We'll see what we can do in December," he said, hinting that a decision on the increase would only be taken at the next EU summit.

Hoping for a change in the perception of the asylum and migration package

The Hungarian Prime Minister "really" hopes that EU leaders will recognise the link between migration and terrorism.

“Those who support migration also support terrorism”

– he said, adding that he "really hopes" that the perception of the asylum and migration package will change.

As for the legislative package, member states have already agreed on their position (Hungary has indicated its opposition on two points) and now have to negotiate the final text with the European Parliament. Among other things, the proposals would introduce border procedures, i.e. asylum seekers whose requests appear to be unfounded would not be allowed to enter the EU until the procedure is completed (this is the proposal which the Hungarian government has been referring to as aiming to establish "migrant ghettos", even though the proposal is using the term transit zones).

Mandatory solidarity would also be introduced, i.e. some asylum seekers would be relocated, but a country could choose to get out of this by paying €20,000 per person or participate in other negotiated measures (the Hungarian government says this is a matter of accepting a mandatory relocation or paying a fine).

A Hamas terror attack must not happen again

Orbán said that opinions among EU leaders on the Israeli-Gaza conflict are very divided. He said he would stand up for Israel's right to self-defence so that an incident like the Hamas terror attack "would never happen again", while at the same time, humanitarian aid should also be provided.

According to preliminary reports, EU leaders intend to call for a humanitarian ceasefire. The Hungarian Prime Minister first deflected a question on "the ceasefire", veering the subject towards the Russia-Ukraine war, and then, following a clarification from another journalist, first said that it would be discussed, that Hungary was ready to contribute "in the name of humanitarian suffering", and in the end mentioned the possibility of sending aid.

According to him, from a "European", Hungarian point of view, there are two states in the southern Mediterranean: Israel and Egypt. (This may be a problematic statement to say the least, because the EU has repeatedly advocated a two-state solution, i.e. Palestinian statehood.) Orbán says that if stability in the region is lost, migration to Europe will "immediately" follow.