I never thought that this would be our war, this is an internal matter of the Slavic peoples, which they have to settle among themselves - the Hungarian Prime Minister stated in an interview on the TV2 Tények program on Wednesday afternoon about the Russian-Ukrainian war.
It is important to know what European and Hungarian people think about Ukraine's accession to the EU, said the Prime Minister, adding: after all, people live in democracies in Europe, we need to know their opinion, it is not by chance that the Hungarian government puts the Ukrainian accession issue at the center of the national consultation.
He added: No one but Hungary wants, knows or dares to ask the opinion of its own citizens.
The prime minister confirmed that he does not support Ukraine's accession to the EU.
He also said that Europe and Hungary are plagued by three problems: the Russian-Ukrainian war, the growing threat of terrorism due to Israeli terrorist acts, and the intensification of migration pressure from the south.
"We have to be sane in the next year as well," said Viktor Orbán.
The prime minister said: it is good for the world if the Russian-Ukrainian war is localized and does not turn into a clash that engulfs the entire world. He reminded: this happened in the case of the occupation of Crimea, then it was possible to isolate the conflict.
Orbán emphasized: war has a hot, hot, bloody dimension, hundreds and thousands of people die every day. "Cease fire and negotiation - we should get there," Viktor Orbán stated again.
"Venni has already admitted a country to the EU as a member, we also participated in the admission procedure as a host, we know the process. But we have never done such a thing that we start accession negotiations with a country at war," the Prime Minister pointed out, and then began to list the questions: will the part of Ukraine occupied by the Russian side become a member of the EU, or even how many inhabitants it has? today for the country that wants to join the union.
Carriers got into trouble because we let Ukrainians into our markets, farmers can also get into trouble, these issues need to be clarified before we talk about joining, Viktor Orbán pointed out.
The prime minister said: Brussels did not prepare a study that takes into account the costs, nor was there an objective report that could be used as a basis for the debate. "If we were to include Ukraine now, all the countries that have received support from the EU so far would be out of this circle, and all the money would go to Ukraine," Viktor Orbán pointed out. "We rushed forward in a case where we should have stopped and thought," he added.
Viktor Orbán emphasized: Hungary had to be left out of this bad decision, which is why he did not vote on the start of Ukraine's accession negotiations at last week's EU summit.
Ukraine's financial support must be solved outside of the EU budget, otherwise the member states, including Hungary, will be the victims of helping the country, Viktor Orbán said.
According to the prime minister, the financial support of Ukraine from the European Union is a "complicated and difficult issue", as it is not yet known where the 50 billion euros to be spent will come from.
If it is to be given from the budget - as according to today's plans - it means that it will be missing from the budget created for other countries, i.e. "we will also give the money of the Hungarians" to Ukraine, said the prime minister.
He stated: Hungary does not want to contribute to this, therefore it is necessary to negotiate how much money, for how long, from what sources and with what technique should be given to Ukraine, and it should not be done from the EU budget - Viktor Orbán added, according to the relevant February a decision will be preceded by "echo, sulphurous lightning".
It would be nice if the Hungarian left could be counted on in this fight, but this is not the case - added the Prime Minister, who believes that national affairs should not be fought with each other, but that the left should support the government through student scholarships or other decisions in the national interest. case.
In connection with the adoption of the law on the protection of sovereignty, Viktor Orbán said: if someone gives money to a political actor, he expects something in return, and if a party receives money from abroad, then it is treason in the sense that the expectations from abroad must be fulfilled one day. "We want to decide what happens in this country. That's why we had to create this law to plug this hole," he added.
In the political war, they don't give blood, but money, everyone in this country understands that, the prime minister emphasized.
Speaking about inflation, Viktor Orbán said: he does not rule out that this indicator will be around 7 percent at the end of December, and next year the monetary deterioration could be 5 percent instead of the forecasted 6 percent. "Inflation has been contained, but it is not enough, the good news will be when economic growth starts as well. And there are signs that this will happen next year," the Prime Minister emphasized.
A realistic goal for next year is for economic growth to start: in 2023 we fought to make sure it didn't get worse, in 2024 we can work to make it better.
This is a different perspective, so from this point of view, 2024 seems to be a much more hopeful year than 2023 was - emphasized Viktor Orbán.
According to Viktor Orbán, the best news of this year was the winning of the two Hungarian Nobel Prizes. He praised the parents of Katalin Karikó and Ferenc Krausz, who raised these two people who achieved such great success in the field of science.
Viktor Orbán also praised the successes of Hungarian football, reaching the European Championship.
In the interview, the prime minister also talked about how the Christmas preparations are going on in his own family, and that his wife strictly observes the traditions. The head of the family is responsible for lighting the oven and putting on the top decoration, and Christmas Eve dinner will be oven-roasted carp.
He also revealed that he used to ring the bell that signals the arrival of Jesus to the grandchildren.
Viktor Orbán said: if a person commits himself to a good cause and does not give up, then things will turn out well in the end. "The Hungarian people know this. You just have to endure," the Prime Minister told the nation.
Cover photo: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (j) gives an interview to presenter Gábor Gönczi in the TV2 studio on December 20, 2023.
Source: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Benko Vivien Cher
