"Hungarians have lived here for a thousand years, the national forces will be in government for at least sixteen years in a row, we have experienced all kinds of ambassadors, ups and downs. We work with strategic patience," said the prime minister's political advisor.
The American-Hungarian relationship, Sweden's NATO accession, foiling of books, and the MCC Festival are also discussed in the extensive interview that Balázs Orbán gave to Mandiner.
Balázs Orbán responded to the suggestion that thirty-two embassies joined the statement of the United States Foreign Office that there are problems with lmbtq rights in Hungary, and that Ambassador David Pressman knows that they are worried all over the world:
"No way! I think the situation is rather the other way around: the whole world is worried about why this rainbow transgender craze has become a standard tool of foreign policy pressure. It is extremely harmful to the West. It is worth recalling: when the pro-Western forces fled headlong during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the priority message of the embassy there was the celebration of Pride month. They are trying to propagate a way of life and expect the world to conform to it, which is foreign even within the traditional Christian Western world, let alone outside of it. If the West continues on this path, it will lose the rest of the world, it will be irretrievably reduced to a minority. So we are not worried about Hungary, but about the isolation of Western countries led by liberal elites. They don't respect others, they weaken their own society, they use their own children for this, and those who don't like it will lose their freedom," he added, then emphasized:
"We are on the right track: we respect all cultures, but we strengthen ours, we protect our children, and in other things there is freedom".
"The Hungarian state does not want to have a say in who lives and how, we only insist on the ban on sexually influencing children. The purpose of the Child Protection Act is to protect children from lmbtq propaganda. Thus, gender sensitization programs imposed by NGOs and embassies are unacceptable to us. 3.7 million people agreed with this in the child protection referendum - I'll just quietly add that this is more than the number of people who supported joining the EU last year," stated the Prime Minister's political director.
Sweden's NATO accession is also an important issue for the United States. According to Balázs Orbán, it is not possible to give a specific date in this matter for the time being, and the Hungarian position remains unchanged.
"The government decided after great debates that it supports the Swedes' accession, now it's the parliament's turn. However, among the representatives, several people raised the question: why should we help the Swedes when they have been defaming us for more than ten years? I believe that politically, the period ahead should be devoted to trying to find a new modus vivendi".
Balázs Orbán responded to the suggestion that the obstruction of NATO expansion has been removed from the Turkish side, and that our country is aligning itself with Turkey on this issue:
"This is not a good approach. Of course, the dialogue between Budapest and Ankara is continuous, we negotiate, and not only on this topic. However, the following can be said to be a specifically Hungarian suggestion: when they shout about a country for a long time that it is not part of civilization, saying that its democracy has declined, and they put this in the focus of their foreign policy, why don't they feel that this will cause a problem later, when the country concerned would you need his support to join a military alliance? This is again the bankruptcy of neoliberal, interventionist foreign policy thinking. We consider the strength of NATO to be important, from the point of view of the security of our region, the organization is primary, so it is necessary to preserve unity. If one member state is attacked, the others, including Hungarian soldiers, will die defending it, and vice versa. And if this is the case, it is a normal expectation that we enter the new situation with a good relationship between us. I emphasize: we are open and optimistic".
The fact that Joe Biden only shook hands with Viktor Orbán at the joint photo session was a question raised by the Mandiner, to which the political director answered the following:
"I think what happened was that the American president was happy for the Hungarian prime minister, who is one of the European leaders who sees the most on American headlines. He greeted me like an old friend. A kind gesture," said Balázs Orbán, who in light of all this evaluates the relationship between Hungary and the United States as particularly good.
"The West cannot be strong without the mutually beneficial cooperation between America and Europe, so it is important for us to find a common voice. This is part of Hungarian strategic thinking, and our country has always been a partner in it. However, we consider it unacceptable that there should be a subordinate relationship between the two shores of the Atlantic Ocean".
