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 provide a rare opportunity for finding out what the leader of the country thinks about current events, how he sees his opponents and any issues at hand.
"Everyone knows that if Donald Trump had won in the United States in 2020, these nightmarish two years would not have happened. There would have been no war."
– Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, summing up what he thought about the US elections and Donald Trump's victory in his regular, Friday morning appearance at the public radio. Orbán added that it is " a victory so great that it can not only be seen from the Moon, but also from Mars".
According to the Prime Minister, there is a "difficult, uncomfortable, hard-to-resolve situation" in the EU after Trump's victory, because "if you have spent two years convincing the world that war is good, peace is bad, sanctions are good, and politicians who speak against sanctions are stupid (...) then to suddenly change course when the whole world has been listening to you for years is difficult".
According to Orbán, there are three things that Donald Trump is able to fight on, but "let's put aside the issues of gender and migration right now, because the war is probably the hottest topic now".
"On the front, the situation is obvious. There is military defeat. And the Americans are going to get out of the war".
– Orbán said, adding that Donald Trump is "a man who hates war". Orbán also said that the Ukrainians have fought heroically, and he isn’t denying that. But this war cannot be financed by Europe alone, according to the Prime Minister. Orbán also said that there are still some who remain silent "but the number of those who are saying that we must adapt is growing". He then noted that while this is what Hungary has been saying all along, “we should leave the past behind and adapt".
The EPC was a success
Viktor Orbán thanked the people of Budapest who are putting up with the government hosting the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC).
The reason for the EPC summit being held in Hungary is not due to some diplomatic feat, but simply because the Hungarian government is the one currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers. Thursday's meeting was the fifth event of the community, with leaders of more than 40 European countries in attendance. According to Orbán, everything has gone smoothly, and everyone will go home feeling that they have been to a "good place".
Orbán added that gas is currently expensive in the EU, which he believes must be remedied first so that leaders can talk to each other: "we must find a European energy regulation that won't destroy European businesses and families", which will be the task for Friday, according to Orbán. Even though in his view "the others are suffering more than us", they would do well to listen to the Hungarians.
The Prime Minister then returned to the subject of the US elections. He said that it was now possible to hope that "2025 would be the year of peace", which would allow the government to make economic proposals in preparation for peace. According to Orbán, this includes making the 13th month pension a permanent measure and finding a solution for cheaper housing. This is all possible because "we Hungarians bet on the right horse". The Hungarian government has repeatedly and openly expressed its support for Trump in the run-up to the election.
Not like a peep show
According to Viktor Orbán, the Hungarians made the right choice both regarding peace and the US elections. He added that he believes that this must also be done in relation to the conflict between America and China, where "we must not take one side or the other, but the side of the Hungarians", because "we must accept that we are Hungarians with interests of our own". In his view, however, in this particular conflict "we do not want anything different from the Americans. What do the Americans want? A good deal with China". The widespread view in China is that regardless of who is president, the strained bilateral relations are not likely to improve.
“We aren't small, this is a big nation. I have seen successful countries of the same size.”
– Orbán said, adding that what's needed for such a result is skillful friendship-building and the creation of an economic advantage. He added that there must be someone in Hungarian politics who "sees the future". Expounding on this, the Prime Minister said that even though we live in a world of "daily pushing and shoving, wham bam and in the real-time world of the internet, where everything is happening now and we want to peep into things like in a peep show", we still need politicians who "are there to understand what is going to happen".
"Judicial activism happens in Brussels, that's where the head of the snake is," Orbán added. He said that if there is no solution there, then there is no solution to the migration issue. He put it this way:
"In Brussels, we are the rebels. And it is in Brussels that the elite is trying to push us down".
But in his view, Hungary has been successful in the fight so far. He added that in spite of this, the national consultation is important, because in the EU it matters "how many people are backing" the government, "because if there are few, it will be a failure, like in Germany".
"It's not because I'm good at it that I can rebel in Brussels and still be alive. It is because the majority of sober-minded Hungarian families are behind us," Orbán said in conclusion.
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 one 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.