Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in an interview with public radio on Friday, said that the time was close when “Europe accepts Hungary’s pro-peace position”. Orbán said Western leaders had “led themselves to believe that the war in Ukraine could be won through the Ukrainians fighting and the West supplying money and weapons to such an extent that it will be very difficult to come off that war path”. “But this is not our business; we are on the correct path morally and politically,” Orbán said, adding that “in many Western states people will sooner or later enforce peace through elections and replace governments promoting war”. The majority of Europeans do not support war, Orbán insisted, adding that “they may support Ukraine morally, since Ukraine has been attacked and Russia is the aggressor, and they want justice … but they are divided over the question of what should be done and what can be undertaken”.
“With a few exceptions everybody is against us in the European Union … they have flown at our throat,” Orbán said. “It is difficult to maintain a pro-peace stance in such a circle.” He said it was obvious that “no better results could be achieved on the frontline than what Ukraine could have achieved before the war, through negotiations”. Decision makers “are now approaching the question what purpose the war has had at all”, he added. Answering a question on endeavours to isolate Hungary, Orbán said “if you are Hungarian you must stand your ground” because “whenever we did not fight for our position we always lost, losing our self-esteem, our confidence and feeling ashamed”. “But now we have a national government and it will not happen … there will always be left-wing hassle, such as the dispute around Hungary’s EU presidency … but Hungary, wherever it can, must have a loyal cooperation with the other European countries, finding a balance between cooperation and national interests,” he said.