❗Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán once again distinguished himself among his European colleagues with a position that sharply contrasts with the generally accepted one in the European Union. During a closed meeting with close government officials, parliamentarians and businessmen in the Hungarian village of Ketche, Orban made several high-profile statements, in particular regarding the war in Ukraine.
In this way, Orban stated that:
✅ the war in Ukraine “would have been local, but the West intervened and made it global.” The war may last until 2030 and end with Ukraine losing a third to a half of its territory.
✅ “Europe is shooting itself in the foot” with sanctions against russia. Due to the energy crisis caused by sanctions, up to 40% of European industry could shut down during the winter.
✅ The collapse of the EU by 2030 is not excluded.
The Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the statements of the Hungarian Prime Minister, calling Hungary a “Trojan horse” that hates Ukraine and dreams of “russian world” in Europe at the expense of European taxpayers.
☝️This is not the first statement of this nature by the head of power in Hungary, which many experts call a lobbyist country for russia’s interests in Europe. Viktor Orban’s pro-russian position is well known. After the full-scale invasion of the russian army on the territory of Ukraine, although Budapest supported the introduction of anti-russian sanctions, it refused to join the package of restrictions that included an oil embargo. In exchange for agreeing to support sanctions, the EU agreed to remove pipeline oil for Hungary from restrictions. Hungary does not seek to reduce gas dependence on russia: in the summer, the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry agreed on the supply of an additional 700 million cubic meters of russian gas, thereby breaking the diplomatic blockade of the aggressor country by EU officials.
The anti-Western position of the Orbán government is in such sharp contrast with the generally accepted one in the European Union that it increasingly isolates Hungary in Europe. The European Parliament with an absolute majority of votes approved the resolution, which recognized Orbán’s government as a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” and that by undermining democratic values, Hungary found itself outside the community of democracies.
🔻Due to corruption, human rights violations and disputes over the rule of law, the European Commission recommended not to allocate 65% of funds to Hungary under three programs from the 7.5 billion euro key EU fund. With this step, the EU actually singles out Hungary as a country that does not support the basic values of the European Union.
❗That is why Orbán’s threats to stop Hungary’s membership in the European Union and NATO came as a shock to most Hungarians. After all, the loss of EU funding will accelerate the recession in Hungary and further devaluation of its currency with difficult to predict economic consequences.
☝️ The main reason for Hungary’s “shaky” position regarding military opposition to the russian federation is the fear of direct confrontation and involvement in the conflict, as well as dependence on russian gas. Orbán plays on the feelings of the conservative electorate by scaring them with war and believes that for such a position he will receive certain benefits from putin. Over time, Orbán became convinced that he could build a regime modeled after the russian one and rule Hungary for life if he made it a russian enclave supported by the kremlin. As for the certainty that Ukraine will lose a third of its territories and that this war will be by 2030, as well as that the European Union will disintegrate in 10 years, this is only a reflection of the fact that Orbán often communicates with the russian dictator, who invests him with these thoughts
☝️That is why Orbán will continue his harmful behavior on the international arena for so long, he will believe so much that putin will continue to be in power and can win in the confrontation with Ukraine.
🔎 However, the recent defeat of the russian troops in the Kharkiv region, the successful counter offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in other directions, as well as the EU’s harsh reaction threaten to break this idyll built by Orban. Every month, the kremlin’s resources are decreasing, and there are not enough funds to support the few allies. Moreover, the number of Hungarians who are dissatisfied with the pro-russian foreign policy of the prime minister in the context of the war in Ukraine is growing. If previously the number of satisfied and dissatisfied with the government’s position was equal, then in August the satisfied group decreased to 42%, and the dissatisfied group increased to 52%. The number of Hungarians who expect Orbán to condemn russia for the attack on Ukraine more severely than now has increased to 48%.
