According to reports, the meeting between the politicians focused on the European migration situation.Continue reading
Hungary is still an interesting, strong, committed, exciting and instructive country, and its prime minister is the longest serving one, with experience to share with the world, Viktor Orbán said in an interview to Mandiner.
In the interview – given on the plane on his way home from Dubai – the Prime Minister recalled that Hungarians now know that the future is not where they live, but somewhere else. “And now we have to fit Hungary into this future, we cannot just stay within the framework of the European Union. And Hungary is ready, open, here,” he said.
He added that what is much more obvious in America, and less obvious yet in Hungary, is that everything is changing. “We Hungarians are still involved in European history, which we believe is the main stream of world history.
Back then Europe was the world’s largest economy, today it is only the third,” he pointed out, adding that we must slowly realize that this era is over and that Europe is unfortunately in a downward spiral.
Meanwhile, he said, regions that were previously ranked far behind Europe elsewhere in the world are rising. The future is in the Arab region, China, or Central Asia, not in the European Union, he emphasized.
Orbán Viktor: Európa azt kockáztatja, hogy minden fontos megállapodásból kimarad (VIDEÓ)
A kormányfő világosan fogalmazott.https://t.co/aGbIXweBzj
— Mandiner (@mandiner) February 16, 2025
On the Russian-Ukrainian war, Mr. Orbán pointed out that US President Donald Trump could bring peace in the foreseeable future. Trump has taken the decisive step: he has contacted the Russian President and a serious meeting is being organized. At the same time, he added, it will become clear that it is not enough to reach an agreement on the Ukraine war alone, but that the whole world order must be involved in the negotiations. This includes Russia’s place in the world economy, in the world energy system, in the world military and security system, in the European security architecture, and there is also Ukraine, he underlined.
Viktor Orbán added that he believes this is happening, but that Europeans are again missing the boat. According to the Prime Minister,
European leaders are in a pincer, because on the one hand the US, the dominant player in transatlantic cooperation, is leading the way in changing values and thinking, and on the other hand the people themselves, who agree with this, are the other jaw of the pincer.”
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
Asked whether “the interests of Europeans will be able to get involved in the Russia-Ukraine peace deal,” the Prime Minister said ‘no.’ “No, because no one will fight for us. No one will stand up for a community that does not stand up for itself, that does not fight for itself. If Western European leaders do not understand what is happening, if they do not get involved, they will stay out of the settlement. However, if they stay out, there will be no one to represent their interests,” he emphasized.
He added that this is the world of realpolitik, “not the world of moralizing essayists,” where there are hard facts and interests. “If you do not fight for your people, for your country, you are simply left out of everything. What Europe is doing now risks being left out of all the important agreements that will decide our future.” At the same time, the Prime Minister affirmed that “we Hungarians will be there according to our own weight.
Europe may be left out, but Hungary will always be there, it will maintain relations, and I will fight for what is important to Hungarians at all times.”
Mr. Orbán spoke in the interview about his meeting with Alice Weidel, co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The Prime Minister recalled that he had had an extremely interesting meeting with the party leader, saying that it had been a long time since he had had such an experience. “What we call the leading type in Hungary is slowly being removed from the European palette. And now a lady has come along who is tougher and more direct than the softened European mainstream: there is will and imagination in what she says. What is more, she has vision, optimism, and strength.”
Via Mandiner, Featured photo via MTI/Máthé Zoltán