Jeffrey Sachs Praises the Hungarian Position on the Ukraine War

World-renowned American economist Jeffrey Sachs spoke to the daily Magyar Nemzet about the war in Ukraine and praised the realistic view of the Hungarian government. 

According to the Columbia University professor,

Viktor Orbán is the only European leader who has a realistic view of the situation in Ukraine.”

The Hungarian prime minister “understands that this is a senseless and unnecessary war, brought on by NATO enlargement and that it will be a tragedy and a dead end for Ukraine as long as it lasts,” he said, adding that “unlike other European leaders, he also recognizes that Russia will not accept defeat on the battlefield without escalating the conflict into a nuclear war.”

According to Sachs, the war in Ukraine could have definitely been avoided. “From Bill Clinton onwards, US diplomats have constantly warned presidents of the dangers of NATO enlargement, particularly in the case of Ukraine and Georgia,” he reminded. “For Moscow, the bottom line was that Washington had to respect Russia’s national security, which Moscow saw as threatened by NATO enlargement. Unfortunately, the United States refused to negotiate the enlargement of the defense alliance,” the professor noted.

In Sachs’s view, long-term peace can be built on six principles:

1. the United States must make it clear that NATO will not expand with Ukraine and Georgia;
2. Ukraine must declare its neutrality;
3. the UN Security Council and other states, including Germany, Turkey, Brazil, and perhaps Hungary, must jointly assume responsibility and guarantee compliance with the peace treaty;
4. NATO members must strictly limit the rearmament of Ukraine;
5. Kiev must be given a clear roadmap for joining the European Union as a neutral state – just like Austria;
6. Sanctions on Russia must be lifted, and trade between the European Union and Russia must be restored.

“At the moment, of course, we are nowhere near such an agreement, but it is not impossible to get there,” the professor concluded.

Featured photo via Facebook/Mathias Corvinus Collegium – MCC