Russian-Ukrainian War Is Not about Ukraine but NATO Enlargement, Says Viktor Orbán

Viktor Orbán attended the World Governments Summit in Dubai last week, and gave an interview to Tucker Carlson at the first Tucker Carlson Summit on the sidelines of the event. “Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is by far the longest serving head of state in Europe, and by this point has been vindicated on pretty much everything,” the US television personality wrote on X following the interview.

Hungary has been working against liberal headwinds for 15 years to stop migration, protect traditional values, respect religious communities, and keep taxes low, which is considered unorthodox for liberals, the Hungarian Prime Minister stressed. The politician explained that the US Democrats wanted to replace governments that clung to their sovereignty and stood up for themselves. The leaders of the Western European left are genuinely convinced that allowing Muslim-majority immigrants into traditionally Christian societies will result in a better and happier society, he added.

He said it was this conviction that led George Soros to call for the admission of a million immigrants a year into Europe. “Hungary’s position has always been that this should remain a national competence, and Hungary has never wanted to lecture anyone on how to build a better society.

A key development is that Donald Trump has changed the political mindset of the West, for example on migration and the Green Deal. On the latter, everyone is now saying that economic competitiveness comes first and green issues come after,”

he pointed out.

He noted that the left-liberal community does not like its nation, sometimes even feels ashamed to belong to a nation, and considers anyone who is proud of his nation and thinks he should work for it as a Nazi or far-rightist. In their view, “I am a fascist, a medieval, feudal, Christian radical,” Viktor Orbán said, calling it absurd.

Speaking about the economy, he said that 30 years ago the world’s largest economy was the European Union, but today it is only the third largest.

Because of the war in Ukraine, we have isolated ourselves from cheap energy and we have no new strategy on how to be competitive again, no ideas, no vision,”

he explained.

The new US leadership is thinking in terms of a triangle of Europe, China, and the US, he said, adding that it was important for Europe not to sit idle but to have ideas and proposals on how to transform the current trade imbalance. If this fails, we will suffer from tariffs, he noted.

Mr. Orbán called the claim often made in the US press that he is a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, ridiculous, but said that if he took it seriously, he would say that he was not pro-Putin, but pro-Hungarian. “My first duty is to serve my nation. Secondly, we have had experiences with the Russians, it was not a pleasant time,” he said. “Hungary has always been caught between three centers of power: Berlin, Istanbul, and Moscow. Each of them invaded Hungary at least once, the Russians three times,” he added.

“When I came to power for the second time in 2010, I agreed with President Putin that what happened between the two countries in the past should be left to historians, and from now on we should establish reasonable cooperation and economic relations. As good as possible. (…)

What Putin promised, he kept. And so did I. So I do not have the negative, destructive attitude towards Russia that many Western leaders have today.”

the Prime Minister said.

He noted that his view on the Russian-Ukrainian war has always been that it is not about Ukraine, it is about NATO enlargement. The war broke out because Russia invaded parts of Ukraine to prevent the country from joining NATO, he said. “Even then I told my colleagues that this conflict has to be isolated as much as possible and as fast as possible, otherwise this conflict will spread, it will consume more and more money and it will have more and more victims,” he said.

I was the guest of @TuckerCarlson at the Tucker Carlson Summit. Here’s why we stood for a ceasefire and peace talks from the first moment of the Russia-Ukraine war: pic.twitter.com/6IpPoAlTQy

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) February 16, 2025

He noted that on this issue, he was the only one left, “the only one who said that the European Union should not be dragged into this war.” “Then Slovakia and the Vatican joined the pro-peace movement, and now US President Donald Trump has joined, and it is a new chapter,” he emphasized.

He added that if President Trump does not find a solution to end the war, Ukraine could easily become the Afghanistan of the European Union and destroy the EU itself. President Trump’s big task is to persuade the Russians to stop the war so that they can feel they have won, he said.

Speaking about Ukraine and its president, first of all, what they have done and what they are doing, with all their mistakes, is certainly heroic. Secondly, I think they misunderstood the West’s intentions. They thought that the West would always support them.

Consequently, they did not behave as they should have behaved in their situation. If someone is in trouble, they need help, and if they ask for help, they should do it in the right tone. But the assumption of perpetual Western support was a mistake on their part.”

Mr. Orbán also said that the Hungarian government is constantly measuring what European citizens think about the war in Ukraine. Europeans are increasingly moving towards peace. However, there is another ongoing government survey of what Europeans think about the future of their children, he added. In all Western European countries, people say it will get worse, he said. But in all central European countries they say it will be better. This is a serious difference now between the two halves of the continent, he pointed out.

Central Europeans who lived under Soviet occupation and dictatorship are more optimistic, the Prime Minister noted. They believe they can create a better life for their children than the one they had or have. In contrast, Westerners are born into these conditions and it has always been natural for them. So there are big differences within Europe, not only between countries, but also in terms of historical experience,” he pointed out.

I do not know what the future of Western Europe will be, but I am absolutely convinced that Central Europeans have a bright future ahead of them,”

Viktor Orbán underlined.

Hungary’s Viktor Orban is by far the longest serving head of state in Europe, and by this point has been vindicated on pretty much everything. So when he says that going forward it’s Ukraine, not Russia, that may be the biggest threat to the west, it’s worth paying attention.… pic.twitter.com/QeZmaMFJhy

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 14, 2025

Tucker Carlson shared excerpts from the conversation in a post on his social media page and reminded the public that Orbán is by far the longest-serving prime minister in Europe. The Hungarian Prime Minister’s views have now proven themselves in nearly everything and it would therefore be worth listening carefully, the presenter said.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Orbán Viktor