Balázs Orbán apologizes, says he made a mistake and spoke ambiguously about 1956

"I did not intend to speak ambiguously about 1956. It was a mistake on my part, and if I have wronged anyone by doing so, I apologise," Balázs Orbán, the Prime Minister's Political Director, wrote on Facebook on Friday. He also wrote that "if ever necessary" he would be at Corvin köz with a gun in his hand. (Budapest's Corvin köz was the scene of one of the fiercest, legendary battles between Hungarian revolutionaries and the Russian forces that were sent in to quash the uprising. – ed)

A day before, speaking to the pro-government news outlet Mandiner, Balázs Orbán said:

“Based precisely on '56, we probably would not have done what President Zelensky did 2.5 years ago, because it is irresponsible, because one can see that he took his country into a war of defense. So many people have died, so much territory was lost, and I'll say again, it is their right, it is their sovereign decision, they could choose to do it, but if they had asked us, we would not have recommended it, because of what happened in '56. Because we have learned that one has to be cautious here, and one has to treat the very precious Hungarian lives with great care. They cannot simply be thrown before others.”

Politicians, political analysts and historians alike have been reacting to Balázs Orbán's statements. For example, in response to a question from Telex, Mária Schmidt, director of the House of Terror Museum, wrote that "The 1956 revolution and struggle for freedom cannot be compared to Russia's aggression against Ukraine", adding that we are a nation of freedom fighters after all.

Although on Thursday afternoon Balázs Orbán reacted to the criticism coming his way by talking about “foreign-funded propaganda press” and “pro-war politicians” and said it would be nice if both the war and the “pro-war lies” would end, he posted his apology early Friday afternoon, shortly after PM Orbán called his statement “a mistake” on public radio.