Orbán: I will invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hungary
November 22. 2024. – 09:05 AM
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.
We are now in the darkest hour of the two most dangerous months of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his regular Friday morning interview with Kossuth Rádió. Orbán said that the Russian-Ukrainian war is no longer just an international diplomatic conflict, but that the danger is imminent, and Hungary is also at risk because of the war. "There are indigenous Hungarians living in Transcarpathia," the Prime Minister added, presumably alluding to Russia's missile and drone attacks on several Ukrainian territories, including Transcarpathia last Sunday.
Hungary is pursuing the policy of a sensible approach, the Prime Minister pointed out. He said that
we only have to make it through the next two months, after which the situation will begin to calm down once Donald Trump is inaugurated and "peace will be within reach".
Viktor Orbán called a meeting of the defense council on Wednesday morning, because – as he put it – "the war has entered its most dangerous phase". At the time, he said then that in the coming weeks and months Hungary would need all its knowledge, resources and diplomatic experience to continue to stay out of the war.
The Prime Minister convened the defense council after Ukrainian troops struck a Russian military base in the Bryansk region, 130 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, near the town of Karachayev on Tuesday. According to the Russian defense ministry, ATACMS missiles supplied by the United States were also used in the attack.
Orbán explained that the Hungarian defense council also examined whether, if America pulled out of the war, Europe would be able to support Ukraine and ''bring it to a military position where it makes sense to carry on with the war''. As far as we can see, this is not the case," the Prime Minister said. "If America backs out from behind Ukraine, then Europe is not in a strong enough military position to support Ukraine with even the slightest chance of success."
Orbán then spoke about the difference in the way certain countries communicate. According to Orbán, communication in Russia is very different, and "there, if the president says something, it is not just babble". This is why, according to the Prime Minister, if the Russians change the rules on the use of their nuclear weapons, there will be consequences, it is not a "communication gimmick". He believes that those who support Ukraine with weapons must therefore be prudent. He stressed that in the next two months, every sentence must be carefully thought out, "common sense must prevail, otherwise there will be trouble".
The conversation also touched on the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes.
"The international institutions are not acting circumspectly in case of certain decisions", Orbán said, adding that the decision of the ICC is cynical, because it is interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes. “There is no other choice here, but to oppose this decision.”
That is why the Prime Minister announced that he will extend an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and will guarantee to him that the ICC decision will not have any effect in Hungary.
Orbán last spoke at Kossuth Rádió a week ago, when he also spoke about peace-making. "The war must end in order for us to achieve our goals, because each and every one of the problems of the Hungarian economy stems from the war." He also stressed at the time that for this to happen, we must wait for Trump to be inaugurated in January, and added that the current US administration must not escalate its "'war-approving steps'" in the meantime.
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.