Orbán on the clemency case: the only right decision would have been not to pardon

Viktor Orbán has been silent for a long time since the President resigned, and Fidesz MP Judit Varga, who as Minister of Justice submitted Endre K.'s request for clemency to the head of state, retired from public life. Since the beginning of the upheaval, which was unprecedented in the history of NER, this was the first time the Prime Minister gave his usual Friday-morning radio interview.

"There's trouble, the former Madame President has resigned, one's heart is still bleeding, but each time there's trouble there's also a ray of hope", Viktor Orbán said on Friday morning, speaking on the public station Kossuth Rádió about the Fidesz-KDNP's nomination of Tamás Sulyok, President of the Constitutional Court, as the head of state. "Formally, I was the one who made the proposal to the group, because that's what our rules say, but in reality that's not the case. The reality is that before such serious decisions are taken, there are always lengthy deliberations. You have to gather opinions, so you can't rush it," the Prime Minister said.

Orbán said that he was glad that there were several options to choose from, and Fidesz’ leadership also discussed these in the last round.

“Look, Hungary is a strong country, and now we have this problem, the previous president has resigned, our hearts are still bleeding, and on top of it all, it was a case where the president's decision and the opinion of the people were in sharp contrast. These are painful things. But each time there’s trouble, there’s also a ray of hope”

– Orbán explained, referring to the fact that several candidates had been found for the post of head of state, which he said "strengthens people's faith in their own country". Sulyok was chosen because of a career that brought him professional prestige, and because he has experience in the international arena.

This was the first time since Katalin Novák’s resignation that the Prime Minister spoke in detail about the clemency case. Orbán said that before such a decision is taken, there is a petition, which is carefully studied.

"Pardon cases are completely removed from the government. The president is the one who decides. The only correct decision here would have been to reject it,"

the Prime Minister said. According to him, this decision led to a breakdown in national unity.

“To the credit of Madam President – who did a fantastic job, by the way, and we all loved her and still do – she admitted to this mistake and left. There will be a new President who will make it clear that there is no pardon, no clemency, in paedophile cases or ones related to that, this cannot happen.”

– Orbán said.

The Prime Minister said that the selection process for employees in children's homes needs to be tightened, and should also include an eligibility assessment while sexual orientation should also be considered.

The Prime Minister also said that he expects Brussels to have a different opinion on the tightening of child protection laws in Hungary, but he believes that the sexual education of children is the duty of the parents.

Orbán said that the onslaught of migrants is a bigger problem, adding that there are a number of other countries besides Hungary that are not in favour of the "migrant invasion".

No military solution to the Russia-Ukraine war

On the Russia-Ukraine war, he said that distinguishing between peace and war is a difficult part of politics, but that the realities were evident from the outset. "The basic mathematical facts clearly indicate that Ukraine cannot defeat the Russians without the West's help," Orbán said. He said that in his view NATO has ruled out military intervention. "There is no military solution to this conflict. We need a peace process," he said. "From Hungary's perspective, there's a world power waging war in our neighbourhood. For us, it is a matter of human existence to have peace and security," Orbán said, adding that the election of Donald Trump as US president is what could bring this about.

“We are all grown-ups”

In response to a question on Sweden's NATO membership, he said he had appealed to the Fidesz parliamentary group to give him time. "I have spoken with the Swedish Prime Minister several times. At today's meeting we will close a serious military agreement. We have to accept what the Swedes also have to accept on the other side, that we are different. Hungary is a Christian country, Christian values are particularly important to us, and we aren't able to stomach modern configurations. But this is manageable," Orbán said, adding that Hungary and Sweden are entering into a military alliance. "We are grown-ups, we are capable of making decisions based on our interest," the Prime Minister said, referring to the Swedish-Hungarian meeting scheduled for Friday.

It has been 606 days, or one year and nearly eight months, since NATO announced that Finland and Sweden are now free to join NATO. At the time of the announcement, neither of the two militarily strong countries, which had decided to give up their military independence after a long time, had thought that Finland would have to wait eight months and Sweden more than a year and a half for approval from the member countries or, to be more specific, from one of the member countries.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is due to arrive in Budapest on Friday at the invitation of Viktor Orbán. The meeting will officially focus on defence and security policy cooperation between Hungary and Sweden and preparations for Hungary's EU Presidency. But it is also likely that Sweden's accession to NATO, which the Hungarian parliament will be the last in the military alliance to ratify, will also be discussed.