Viktor Orbán - Along with Ukraine, we would include war in the European Union, which was created as a peace alliance

BUDAPEST - April 25, 2025 (MTI) - Along with Ukraine, we would include war in the European Union, which was created as a peace alliance, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday on Radio Kossuth's Good Morning Hungary programme.

Orbán stressed that we should not do this, we should say no to Ukraine joining the EU. He added that this process cannot be stopped in the end; he did not say it was impossible, but very difficult. Therefore, it is better to clear the air right at the beginning and not let things get to the stage where the whole of Europe will 'stand on our chest' and demand that Hungary say yes. Either we stop this process now or we cannot stop it later, the prime minister stressed. He pointed out that it is up to us, Hungarians, to decide when Ukraine becomes a member of the EU and we are not very willing to say yes.

He added that according to the EU's decision - which the head of the committee announced in front of the entire European public at a plenary session of the European Parliament - Ukraine must be admitted to the organisation by 2030. "The order has been given," he said, adding that all parties in Europe that support the committee are speaking with the same voice that Ukraine should be admitted to the EU, adding that the Hungarian government is against it. He noted that the Hungarian opposition had organised a vote on the issue, and "actually quite fairly": the only "ruling party in Brussels" was the Hungarian one, which asked its own supporters what they thought of Ukraine's entry, and fifty-nine per cent of them said yes. This is a lively, real debate, not only in Europe but also here in Hungary, he stressed.

He stressed that one side says that Ukraine should be admitted as ordered by the President of the Commission, i.e. by 2030, and there is another position - represented by the national side - which says that Hungary is more important than Ukraine and that a quick admission of Ukraine would destroy Hungary and would mean economic bankruptcy for us. Speaking about the Russia-Ukraine war, Orbán said that it would be good to end the war psychosis in Europe. He said that he hoped for faster progress and that he thought the moment would come sooner when Europeans would realise that without the United States there was no point in supporting Ukraine. Without the United States, he said, Ukraine has no chance of even holding its remaining positions, let alone regaining anything.

He added that he thought everyone would see that we only have one option and one task, and that is to support the peace efforts of the American President, but that is not happening. Twenty-five of the 27 countries of the European Union, excluding the Slovaks and Hungarians, decided to continue the war and increase the level of war aid. He recalled that the European Parliament, including the Hungarian opposition parties in the European Parliament, had recently decided that billions of euros of additional significant military aid should be sent to Ukraine. According to the Prime Minister's assessment, it is clear that there is a serious war psychosis that does not want to "support" the Americans, but to promote an independent European war strategy.

The Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine's accession to the EU cannot be supported either, because we must defend the achievements made so far. He stressed that the reason why new members are accepted into the EU is because it is "good for us". This was the case for Hungary and the countries of the region. If we were to admit Ukraine and it was a win-win situation, I would like to say yes, he said, adding that he was sure the opposite would be true. Why should we be wrong when we can be right, or at least defend what we have achieved so far? - Mr Orbán asked.

He stressed that in the event of a free flow of labour from Ukraine, "people should be able to protect their own jobs", so that the greatest achievement of the last 15 years, full employment, "could disappear in a year or two". Orbán added that Ukraine's entry would completely reorganise the financial base of Europe's agricultural economy, leaving Hungarian farmers "out of pocket" and hundreds of thousands of families in a very difficult situation. Hungarian agriculture would shrink by an order of magnitude, Orbán predicted. He recalled that domestic grain growers had caused great difficulties when, at the time of the transfer of Ukrainian products, "this and that fell off the truck" and stayed there.

He also pointed out that in addition to the large influx of low-quality products, another serious problem would be that EU funds would absorb the subsidies to Ukraine and Hungary would go from being a subsidy recipient to a contributor, which would mean that "we would also be financing Ukraine's membership of the European Union". In my opinion, this is not in our interest and Hungary has the right to defend its own interests," the prime minister said. Referring to Kinga Kollár's statement in Brussels, Orbán said that MEP Tisza "with Gyurcsányi's insolence threw it in the face of Hungarians" that she and her party colleagues work daily to ensure that "Hungary does not get the funds it is entitled to" and that she is proud of this.

The prime minister stressed that it is unacceptable and "impossible" that while 4.7 million people in Hungary are working for the success of themselves and their country, there are "a few dozen people" in Brussels who are working against it for a salary. Hungary owes money and must earn this money, Orbán stressed. The prime minister suggested that a serious political struggle had already resulted in 13 billion euros, which allowed for a tangible increase in teachers' salaries from domestic budgetary resources and EU funds, and that further increases were possible. He said that tens of billions of euros remained to be raised and that he was fighting for Brussels to pay them without conditions. Brussels, of course, is saying that if you let migrants in, give up child protection and switch from a pro-peace to a pro-war policy and get in line, you can easily get this money. But I say not at this price, so let's fight for it," Viktor Orbán said.

He added that we will bring these funds home at any cost because "Hungary has the decision-making powers that the European Union needs and it cannot do without us". It will take time and struggle and certainly not laying down arms and submitting. Bringing in this money to meet the demands of Brussels is, in fact, turning Hungary into a Brussels colony. And we will not be a colony, the Prime Minister said. Orbán said that Tiso's party has an agreement with Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European People's Party: they will accept Tiso's party into their ranks, Tiso's party will get support from the European People's Party, for example, by suspending the funds Hungary is entitled to, by lowering the living standards of Hungarians and by helping Tiso to power.

He said that "Hungary will no longer be a Hungary without migrants because migrants will be let in, Hungary will no longer have child protection because LGBTQ people will be able to live freely, and Hungary will no longer be a pro-peace Hungary because we will line up in support of military action in Ukraine." The prime minister said that Brussels also expects Tisza to support Ukraine's rapid accession to the European Union, which the party has included in its programme. Orbán stressed that with these steps "Hungary will cease to exist as an independent state for a long time". He pointed out that anyone who knows Hungarian history knows that Hungarian politics can only be successful if it is independent, and that if it is not, it will certainly not be independent.

He pointed out that as an independent state it has a chance to live in prosperity. If the country loses its independence, it will be pushed back to the colonial line as a poor and plundered country. Orbán said that, on the one hand, many Hungarians have the money to spend Easter with their families in a catering or service establishment, and, on the other hand, this also means that many Hungarian families make a living running hotels and restaurants and are therefore linked to tourism. There are 400,000 families in Hungary who make a living from tourism," he added. The prime minister stressed that if tourism is thriving, then a strong sector of the Hungarian economy is also "thriving" and people have a livelihood thanks to tourism.

Orbán, who paid tribute to Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, said that in times of war the greatest legacy that the warring parties, the whole of European, Western and even human civilisation can receive is peace itself. Pope Francis was a man of peace. That is to say, he was on the one hand "a man of peace" and on the other "unwaveringly courageous," he said. He said that standing up for peace in the last three years meant daily attacks, stigmatization and harassment, and that the Holy Father was under constant fire from a pro-war propaganda network that tried to convince him to abandon his pro-peace stance, but he did not.

For us Hungarians, it was particularly important because in the last three years, until Donald Trump's victory, only two countries in the entire Western world had consistently stood up for peace: Hungary and the Vatican, Orbán said. He added that if you are alone, and we have always been alone in the European Council, then every friendship and support is more important. The prime minister pointed out that this was also true of Pope Francis, who has constantly called on Hungary to take a courageous stand for peace, and that his support gives "supernatural weight to the truth", to peace, in other words, to the cause that we Hungarians also represent.

He said it was unprecedented that a representative of the Catholic Church had visited Hungarians three times, twice in "Little Hungary" and once in Csíksomlyo. He did not hide the fact that there may have been a personal motive. In Argentina - where he came to Rome from - he had worked with Hungarian nuns and Hungarian believers and therefore knew Hungarians, and "was one of those who decided that Hungarians were good and decent people", Viktor Orbán said. He added that in their personal meeting he sensed that Pope Francis had another type of "national sympathy" besides the community of believers. He was an Argentine who liked Hungarians," the prime minister said.

He stressed that the Hungarian Catholic Church plays an extremely important role in the life of Hungarian society. It plays a huge and irreplaceable role in the organisation of Hungarian life, running many schools, nurseries, vocational training colleges and a large university, and is involved in the care of the elderly, the needy and the integration of the Roma. He also said he was looking forward to the next Vatican period because who leads the Catholic Church will have an impact on Hungary.

miniszterelnok.hu/ gnews.cz-jav