Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in an interview with public radio on Friday, said that chances were very slim that anyone would dare to attack a NATO member country today. NATO has made it clear that it is a defence alliance and will not tolerate any military action that would harm the sovereignty of any NATO member state, Orbán said. He said he interpreted the references to a threat by Russia as preparatory manoeuvres by Europeans or Westerners towards entering the war. Instead of handling the conflict as a war between two Slavic nations and localising it, he said, western Europeans recognised the conflict as their own war. The shifting of the German position well demonstrated how „we are getting closer and closer to war every month”, he said. Now they are already talking about plans that certain countries could destroy Russian military equipment in Ukrainian airspace or enter Ukrainian territory other than the frontline, he added. „With an understanding of European history, this can be regarded as communication manoeuvres for war activity,” he said.
Orbán said it was impossible to tell how long it would take for the European strategy to succeed, how many more weapons and how much more money would have to be sent. Sooner or later, it could result in a confrontation between NATO, the European Union and Russia, the last being a nuclear power, a situation that would give reason for „the darkest visions”, he said. Hungary is currently in a very difficult situation because „we are the country that insists on NATO’s basic treaty and the consensus that determines its mission,” the prime minister said. NATO is a defence alliance which was set up to ensure that in case any member state is attacked, the others would step in to help,” he said. The idea had not been raised that NATO would carry out military operations beyond its territory and engage in war with countries that are outside the alliance, he said. „At the same time, it’s as if everyone was in a different future and there are preparations under way in Brussels by working groups on how NATO could participate in the Russia-Ukraine war,” he said.
As regards Hungary’s situation in that context, Orbán said that Hungary, as a NATO member, has representatives in those groups, „but we do not want to participate in the conflict, either by providing financial contribution or by sending weapons; not even within NATO’s framework”. He said he was not sure „how long that situation can be maintained,” adding that Hungary therefore needed „to redefine its position within the military alliance”. „There is serious work under way to define how Hungary could exist as a NATO member without participating in NATO action outside the military alliance’s territory,” he said. Hungary’s diplomacy must resolve this question, Orbán said, adding that a „new description”, a „new definition” must be created.