Viktor Orbán at the EPC Summit: “History Has Clearly Accelerated”

At Thursday’s European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Budapest, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a press conference following the meeting that there was agreement on the need for peace in Europe as soon as possible, as well as on the necessity to react to the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections. The Hungarian politician also noted that he did not believe that they could stop migration if they did not rebel against the laws and court rulings currently in force.

“The war that Russia has launched against Ukraine is now in its third year, the Middle East is in flames and threatens to escalate, North Africa is in destabilizing conflict, illegal migration is a persistent challenge and is approaching its previous peak, and the global economy is experiencing a degree of blockage and fragmentation not seen since the Cold War,” he stressed.

He said that the fifth summit of the European Political Community, the largest diplomatic event in Hungary’s history, was being held, with the participation of 42 heads of state and government, as well as the heads of the European institutions, the NATO Secretary General and the OSCE. He added that they met because they believe they can respond to these threats better together than separately.

The Prime Minister said his personal assessment of the situation was that they all felt there was no time to waste. In his assessment, “history has clearly accelerated,” a chapter has been closed with the U.S. elections and the world will change “faster than we think.”

War or peace, migration or protection, bloc creation or connectivity, subordination or European sovereignty,”

he noted, listing the issues that he believes are at stake.

Mr. Orbán pointed out that no formal decisions were taken at the meeting and that there were “a good number” of differing opinions, but he can report on what there was agreement on. He said that there was consensus at the meeting on the need to respond to the U.S. elections results. There was also agreement on the need for peace in Europe as soon as possible and for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own peace and security in the future. The Hungarian Prime Minister added that “we cannot expect” the Americans “to be the only ones to protect us.”

The Prime Minister expressed his conviction that the issue of migration is once again pushing the boundaries of the European institutional framework. He said that the political leaders’ desire for change is facing a serious obstacle that must be overcome, and this is called “judicial activism.” He explained that “we decide things,” governments implement them, and common decisions run up against first European and then national judicial decisions, and the progress made in curbing migration suddenly “falls apart.” He said: “I do not believe we can stop migration if we do not rebel against the laws and judgments that are now in force.”

Mr. Orbán pointed out that in addition to the plenary session, there were also working groups on economic security and migration. At the meeting they thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for having launched this form of cooperation two years ago. The Hungarian Prime Minister, who held the press conference with his Albanian counterpart, informed the press that

the participants agreed that there was a need to continue and even strengthen the dialogue, and that they had all agreed to be the guests of Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, Albania, next May.

It is now clear that the pro-peace camp is growing, and with the US election the pro-peace camp has grown enormously, Viktor Orbán said in response to journalists’ questions at a press conference at the European Political Community (EPC) meeting. On the issue of peace, he said, he was not qualified to take a position on an issue on which there was not complete agreement, adding that there were differences of opinion on the continuation of the war or a rapid ceasefire and peace negotiations.

He said that the essence of war was victory or defeat, but that Europeans had gone into the war without clarifying what victory was. If there is no definition of victory, how do you know how long you have to fight?” he asked. “We never clarified: should we take back Crimea? Is Sevastopol a NATO flag? Moscow? What is victory?” he asked, adding that since the aim was not defined, the war was difficult to stop.

Achieving peace will not happen overnight, but on Thursday “we took an important step towards finding an answer that will be acceptable to all 27 member states of the European Union,”

Viktor Orbán concluded.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Máthé Zoltán