Viktor Orbán congratulates Azeri President on the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh

Viktor Orbán congratulated the Azeri president on the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was first reported by 444.hu. In his speech at the meeting of the Turkic Council in Astana on Friday, the Hungarian Prime Minister expressed the "respect of the Hungarian people" to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. "We Hungarians know what a fantastic achievement this was a hundred years ago on the part of Turkey, which unfortunately we Hungarians were not able to do," Orbán added, referring to the fact that after the First World War, the Turks had succeeded in revising the 1920 Sèvres Peace Treaty through a war of independence.

He then wished Azeri President Ilham Aliyev success "in his work to stabilise the region" and also wished him success "in the reconstruction work in Karabakh". "Congratulations, Mr President," the Hungarian Prime Minister added.

In late September, the Azerbaijani army crushed Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh during a 24-hour siege, forcing the local authorities to agree to a surrender. The military defeat formally ends the 30-year history of Nagorno-Karabakh's unrecognised statehood, we wrote in our analysis. Samvel Shahramanian, the president of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, known as Artsakh in Armenian, has already signed a decree that all state institutions will be dissolved, ending the republic on 1 January 2024.

Orbán says we need a Plan B to resolve the conflict in Ukraine

In his speech, the Hungarian Prime Minister also referred to the European debate surrounding the war between Ukraine and Russia. "A year and a half has passed, and I must say that it is clear that the European strategy has failed," Orbán said, adding that the plan was that Ukraine would fight, we in the West would provide the money and the weapons, Ukraine would win, Russia would lose, there would be changes in Moscow, and it would be possible to reach an agreement with the new leadership in Russia.

According to the Prime Minister, it was an ambitious and logical plan, but it is not working, so the question currently dominating European politics is whether to face reality and come up with a Plan B.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that the question of potentially giving 50 billion euros to Ukraine is on the EU's agenda. Orbán said that this also proves that the majority still thinks that the previous strategy, which has already failed, should be continued and financed. "I inform the Presidents that

Hungary is pushing for a Plan B for a ceasefire, peace negotiations and the building of a new European security architecture, which is reassuring for Ukraine and acceptable to Russia as well."

– the Prime Minister added. On the new European security architecture, he said that it could not be imagined without Turkey, and that Turkey and through it, the Turkic world must be part of it.