Orbán: “2023 Will Be The Most Dangerous Year Since The Fall Of Communism”

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered his annual State of the State address on Saturday in which he told the nation that due to the escalation of the war in Ukraine and the disastrous sanctions policy pursued by the European Union, “2023 will be the most dangerous year since the fall of communism.”

Orbán reaffirmed that Hungary will remain out of the war in Ukraine. “If we want to protect Hungary, if we want a peaceful life for ourselves, we have only one choice: we must stay out of the Russo-Ukrainian war,” he told his countrymen. “So far this has not been easy, and it will not be easy in the future, because we are part of the Western world, we are members of NATO and the European Union, and everyone there is on the side of war – or at least acts as if they are.”

“The war in Ukraine is not a war between the armies of good and evil”

The Prime Minister insisted that Hungary has no national interest to become involved in the conflict. “The war in Ukraine is not a war between the armies of good and evil, but a war between the troops of two Slavic countries,” he insisted, “a war limited in time and – for the time being – in space. It is their war, not ours.”

The Prime Minister also lashed out at those who try to raise an alarm by arguing that if Russia advances in Ukraine they will next move against NATO countries. “The Hungarian government does not consider it realistic to assume that Russia is a threat to the security of Hungary or of Europe. Such an assumption is valid at most in relation to nuclear weapons; but the war in Ukraine is increasing the risk of their use, rather than reducing it,” Orbán pointed out. “As far as conventional warfare is concerned, the Ukraine war has shown that Russia would not stand a chance against NATO. We understand that the Ukrainians are trying to convince Europe that the Russians will not stop until they reach the Atlantic, but the Hungarians are not buying that threat. The whole world has seen that Russian forces are not in a position to attack NATO.”

He restated the Hungarian position that “the only thing that can save lives is a ceasefire. Loss of life is already being expressed in the hundreds of thousands. The pain, widowhood, growing numbers of orphans, and oceanic waves of suffering can only be calmed by a ceasefire.”

“NATO is not a war alliance. NATO is not a war coalition”

Answering critics who accuse him of wanting to leave the NATO, Orbán reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the alliance. “Let us make it clear that for Hungary NATO membership is vital. We are too far to the east – on the eastern edge of the western world – to renounce it. It would of course be easier if we were further in: following the example of Austria and Switzerland, we too could play with the idea of neutrality….” But he also criticized the direction that some inside the alliance have tried to push it. “NATO is not a war alliance. NATO is not a war coalition. Membership of NATO does not imply any obligation beyond joint defense, nor can member countries expect any other member to jointly attack a third country for some joint military objective,” Orbán insisted. “If some NATO members, or a group of them, want to carry out acts of war outside the territory of the member countries, they must do so outside the framework of NATO.”

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Orbán warned that “Europe is drifting towards war. It is balancing on a narrow plank. Indeed its countries are already indirectly at war with Russia. If you supply weapons, if you provide the satellite information for military action, if you train the soldiers of one of the belligerents, if you finance the entire state apparatus of one of the belligerents and impose sanctions on the other, then, no matter what you say, you are at war – indirectly for the time being. The risk of being drawn in is now chronic.”

“Peace will come when the Americans and the Russians negotiate with each other”

He criticized the Biden Administration for working to draw Hungary into the conflict, making reference to recent remarks perceived as interfering in the internal affairs of Hungary by the U.S. Ambassador to Budapest, David Pressman. Orbán stated that the war in Ukraine will only end when the Americans and Russians sit down to negotiate.  “We know that the negotiations will not be between the Ukrainians and the Russians: peace will come when the Americans and the Russians negotiate with each other,” he told the nation. “That will inevitably happen, but the later it happens, the higher the price we will all pay.”

The Hungarian Prime Minister pointed to inflation as the biggest threat to Hungary apart from the war. He said that the sanctions imposed by Brussels, especially sanctions on energy, are the primary catalyst for inflation, adding that “They target Russia, but they hit Europe.” Orbán again affirmed that Hungary will not agree to sanctions on Russian oil, gas, or nuclear power as these would be disastrous for the Hungarian economy. “If Brussels wants to go to war under any circumstances, then it should go to war against inflation,” Orbán chided EU leaders. “It is not doing so. But we are continuously fighting our own war on inflation. We have already enacted two dozen or so measures to protect families and businesses.”

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