Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave an exclusive interview to M1, in which he talked about the latest developments related to the Ukrainian crisis.
The head of government said that this is the third time during his prime ministership that Hungary has to face a war situation. In 1999, the Serbian war, in 2015 the first Russian-Ukrainian war, and now the second Russian-Ukrainian war. According to the Prime Minister, Hungary is not without experience in dealing with such situations, but, similarly to previous conflicts, Hungary's clear position is that the Hungarians should stay out of this conflict.
According to Viktor Orbán, it is very important that a country that is close to the war zone does not make hasty decisions. "Strategic calm is needed . We must beware of all thoughtless demands and initiatives that may sound popular but have not been assessed in terms of their consequences," said the Prime Minister. According to him, this is the kind of step that the Hungarian left is asking for Hungary to send soldiers to the war zone. “It lacks the virtue of strategic patience and strategic calm. There is no need for this. There is also no need to urge us to send weapons, because with these weapons they would even shoot at Hungarians, since Hungarians also live in Transcarpathia and soldiers were deployed from there as well," Viktor Orbán added.
The Prime Minister said that the Hungarian position will not change, because the Hungarian Defense Forces needs all its weapons to be able to protect the country's borders, therefore, unlike Italy and Germany, we will not send weapons to Ukraine .
Viktor Orbán revived that in the past 12 years there was a red mud disaster, a flood, the first Russian-Ukrainian war, a migrant crisis, an epidemic, and now the second war.
"The next decade will be about who can create a safe environment for their own country and their own people for everyday life".
The prime minister reminded that when the government started the military developments necessary for this reason, the left attacked it continuously and harshly.
In relation to refugees, the Prime Minister said that one does not need to be a nuclear scientist to be able to distinguish between immigrants from afar, who take economic considerations into account, and those fleeing the Ukrainian-Russian war. Help must be given to those fleeing war, because we are the first safe country.
"Friends will be waiting for the refugees in Hungary, we will give them all the help they can. This is a good country, inhabited by good people."
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gives an interview to Volf-Nagy Tünden on the current channel M1
Photo: MTI/Minister's Press Office
We will support whatever sanctions the EU countries agree on.
"I also said in Brussels that we have always taken a different position on sanctions, but this is of no importance now. There is a war and now you don't have to be smart, you have to be united. Therefore, we will support whatever sanctions the EU countries agree on. All news contrary to this is disinformation," Viktor Orbán said, adding that an example of this was the lie about the exclusion of the Russians from the Swift system, in which it was claimed that Hungary had vetoed it.
Hungary is not an obstacle to EU sanctions, but on the issue of energy, many countries think like Hungary, so there was no agreement between the member states. The prime minister added that the current sanctions package does not affect the utility reduction, and that this will not change as long as he is the prime minister.
The cannons are not yet heard as far as the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, but everyone knows that the front line is approaching Hungary and that the longer the war lasts, the closer it will be to us and Transcarpathia. "We need to remain calm and composed in the next week so that we can handle this situation well," said the Prime Minister.
Even though Hungary protected the internal territories of Europe during the migrant crisis in the south, Brussels did not give money then, and in the current situation, instead of help, Poland and Hungary face continuous financial threats. "I suggest that we don't count on Brussels, what we should count on is NATO, because if the danger comes close to our borders, we can only provide full protection to Hungary with the help of NATO."
When asked whether the Hungarian people have anything to fear, Viktor Orbán stated that whoever says that there is no risk of a war situation for Hungary is not telling the truth.
"The question is whether we can responsibly manage the inherent risk in this war situation. Can we find the good decisions every day and every hour that will reduce the danger and help us stay out of this conflict. Which decision best serves Hungarian interests, because Hungary's interests come first, so it is also important that there are no sanctions that would ultimately make us pay the price of the war."
Featured image: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office
Source: M1-hirado.hu
