Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview on Friday that the Hungarian left wing was “pro-war”, and they “always want to agree with Brussels” on how Hungary should take part in the war. “I always strive to come to an agreement with Brussels on how this should not happen,” he added. “How they managed to get from five thousand helmets to F16s over two years is a one-million-dollar question,” Orbán said. He added that it was a natural psychological process that when someone started supporting something small-scale, they would identify with the supported side.
Orbán said he had noticed in Brussels that after some time, people started talking about “our war” and “Ukrainians fighting for us”. “This is a total misconception,” he said, adding that “in the German press there is world-war atmosphere”. “It is obvious that the Russians cannot even defeat Ukraine for the time being, so how could they go against the whole of NATO?” he said.
Orbán said “absurd arguments” were being made, and people found it difficult to accept that what they had started had gone in the wrong direction and changes were needed. He said the voice of those fostering stronger relations with the United States was getting louder in the European Union. The viewpoints of Brussels and America, he added, had got mixed up. Decisions in Brussels, he said, “often follow American interests rather than European ones”.
“One thing’s certain: there will only be peace when things change in Brussels,” the prime minister said. In December, they “fought for the monies due to Hungary”, Orbán said, adding that Hungary had now “received a guarantee” that disbursements would not stop and the funds would not be sent to Ukraine.
“I would be very surprised if this agreement weren’t fulfilled,” he said. The prime minister said that when it came to disputes, both Brussels and Hungary had “tools in their hands”. “True, the size of our tools differ — they are 26 countries — and if there is no agreement they can damage us , but the damage we can cause them would also be unpleasant,” he said. “Everyone would like to avoid this,” he added.
“I went as far as I could, to the wall,” Orbán said. Had Hungary used its veto, the other 26 countries would have come to an agreement and sent the money to Ukraine, even taking Hungarians’ money away and giving it to Ukraine,” he added. This would have entailed “huge conflicts which everyone wanted to avoid”, he said. “Eventually, a good solution was found: Hungary isn’t sending weapons to Brussels, the country will receive its money from Brussels, and will contribute to the civilian maintenance of Ukraine,” he added.