“To say that an election is already decided is an unforgivable disrespect toward the people,” PM Orbán said. He added that while he expects victory, that can only come through the voters’ decision, not through political declarations made in advance.
Prime Minister Orbán said the government side has gained momentum in the final stage of the campaign. He argued that governing parties typically enter the decisive phase later than their challengers because they must both run the country and campaign at the same time. In his view, that late push has now arrived. He described the period since March 15 as a strong and continuous advance, while also noting that the growing importance of the digital sphere has created a new and still uncertain political environment.
According to PM Orbán, it remains unclear how closely online politics reflects the real mood of society because this is the first election in which the virtual space has become so deeply intertwined with the campaign itself.
On the European Union, Prime Minister Orbán sharply criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He argued that in Ukrainian-Hungarian disputes, she has failed to fulfill her duty as head of the Commission. In his view, she should stand with Hungary as an EU member state, but instead stands with Ukraine against Hungary. That, he said, is why political posters targeting her role are justified, adding that such criticism is “not a severe punishment.”
PM Orbán also dismissed the European Commission’s handling of the Druzhba oil pipeline dispute as mere theater. He said Brussels had achieved nothing meaningful and argued that even the attempts presented as action were part of a staged process in which the Commission ultimately yielded to Ukraine rather than defending member state interests.
A major part of the interview focused on Europe’s broader war strategy. Prime Minister Orbán said he had once assumed that when the United States shifted toward peace, Europe would follow. Instead, European leaders continued backing a failing strategy based on the idea that a prolonged war and sanctions could economically exhaust Russia. He called that logic fundamentally flawed. “Europe has no raw materials and no energy. Russia has unlimited raw materials and unlimited energy,” PM Orbán said, arguing that a strategy of economic attrition against such a country was unsound from the outset. In his view, any chance this strategy once had has now disappeared.
“The Russians have leaned back and ordered a coffee,” he said.
Looking ahead, Prime Minister Orbán warned that Europe now faces not only an energy crisis, but also the prospect of a broader financial crisis driven by rising borrowing costs and the refinancing of earlier debt at much higher interest rates. He said this combination could cause a serious economic shock and argued that Hungary must prepare with experience, coordination, and discipline.
In closing, PM Orbán returned to the interview’s central point: Elections are decided by citizens, not by commentary or political confidence. He said the government is preparing for victory but insisted that the final decision belongs to the voters alone.