"Today there is no dialogue, and without dialogue it is very difficult to imagine how we will move in the direction of peace". "You have to be careful when we talk about the ceasefire: it's difficult to assess the impact of a conversation like the one I had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy," Viktor Orbán said on Kossuth Rádió's Good Morning, Hungary program on Friday morning.
The Prime Minister stated that Europe could do more to move towards peace. At the same time, according to him, it is important that we Hungarians remind ourselves that the consecutive presidency of the European Union does not entitle us to Hungary negotiating on behalf of anyone.
"So what I do looks like a negotiation format, because we sit behind tables and discuss issues, but we don't negotiate. That's why I don't even need a mandate, because I do only one thing, I go to those places
where there is a threat of war, which has negative consequences for Europe and Hungary, and we clarify the facts there"
said the Prime Minister.
Viktor Orbán stated that he asked Zelenskyi questions so that his intentions could be understood, where is the red border line, as far as he can go for the sake of peace. According to the Prime Minister, we can be a good tool in the hands of God and the people who want peace, to take steps that will start the parties on a long road, which may end in a ceasefire and peace negotiations.
The presenter asked Viktor Orbán about the next step on the road to peace, who said that this is a delicate and sensitive topic, adding that you can talk about the next step when you have left the previous step behind you.
Moral pressure
"I do only one thing: I go to those places where there is a danger of war, which is also dangerous for Hungary. We can be a good tool in the hands of people who want peace, to start the parties on a long journey, the end of which can be a ceasefire and peace negotiations," said Viktor Orbán. As he indicated, unfortunately we can still take the first steps on the road to peace.
The prime minister said: after Europe decided to get involved in this war, therefore the surveys made about the war are also part of the war, so they are manipulated. According to the Prime Minister, there is a moral pressure on people, since Europe is about peace, people feel that we are waiting too long for America to create peace. The prime minister also found that people were worried about the economic impact of the war. – If we send the money to the front line, how will there be economic growth here? How will we recover from this European economic situation? asked Viktor Orbán. He added: peace would also be a morally correct step, on the other hand, peace would make Europe successful.
Patriots for Europe
In connection with the formation of the Patriots for Europe faction, Viktor Orbán said: The founding meeting will be held on Monday, where the parties that have decided to join, but have not yet announced, will gather.
Regarding the French election, he said: The weekend's second round affects not only the European factions, but the whole of Europe, since it is the second largest country in Europe. He added: The European Parliament elections are also significant, since the party of the German chancellor could only get the third place, 14 percent, while the Hungarian government party got 45 percent.
"Therefore, there is no prime minister in Europe who would not happily trade with me knowing the election results, or more precisely, not trade with me in order to have good voters like the Hungarians," he said.
Viktor Orbán believes that the situation in Germany is difficult, and in France things have deteriorated to the point where the parliament was dissolved as a result of the European elections and a new election had to be called. Although the position of the president is sacred and inviolable, he can fulfill his mandate unless he resigns, but the situation is different with the parliament, since it is the custodian of the will of the people. There has not been an example in France in recent decades that one
A political force that is "cordoned off", excluded from everything, can thus break out of its isolation.
Of course, few people here in Budapest follow this, but those who are familiar with foreign policy know that there may be changes that affect the whole of Europe, not only in Brussels, but also in the area of bilateral relations.
The prime minister outlined two possible scenarios. One is that the right-wing won such a victory over the weekend that it can form a government independently in France. Viktor Orbán touched on the difficulties of coalition governance, as the responsibility is spread differently among the actors and it is extremely difficult to find a common denominator in the case of a multi-party government.
The other possibility is that the right won't win big enough, but it will have the same effect on Brussels and us. So France is facing big changes and Marine Le Pen's party is also the largest party in the entire European Parliament, so it doesn't matter how they decide their fate, but the result will have to wait until Monday.
There is also a threat of a trade war
The prime minister sees the threat of a trade war. As he said: there are absurd situations. – The commission's decision to impose punitive tariffs on the Chinese is said to be good because it protects the interests of European car manufacturers. Meanwhile, European car manufacturers are protesting hand and foot. It's bad for them. The bureaucrats are now making a decision on their behalf. The Easterners will respond to this, and they can push it in the direction of a trade war, the Prime Minister noted. He added: if there is a trade war, we will not be able to sell the goods produced in Hungary.
Viktor Orbán is the guest of Kossuth radio's program Good Morning, Hungary. The prime minister reports on the latest government decisions, the Hungarian EU presidency that began this week, and his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Source: hirado.hu
Photo: MTI
