Prime Minister Orbán described 2025 as a watershed year. The election of a new American president, he said, gave rise to hopes that Washington would lead Europe out of the Ukraine conflict. “We built our plans on the assumption that the American president would rally the Europeans and bring the Ukrainian-Russian war to an end. We thought 2025 would be the year of breakthrough—from war to peace,” he said. But those hopes, he admitted, did not materialize.
What followed was a deepening divide between the U.S. and Europe—one the prime minister called unprecedented. “For the first time since I’ve been observing international politics, Americans and Europeans took opposing positions on a strategically vital issue like a European war,” he explained. “The American president gave the command to end the war and make peace, to which the Europeans responded, ‘No—we want to continue this war, even without the Americans. We’ll provide money, weapons, and if needed, soldiers.’” He underscored that Europe even “reorganized its entire economy into a war economy”.
Hungary, he stressed, had to choose. “Do we support the American push for peace or the Brussels-led decision to continue the war? In simpler terms: do we stay out of this European war effort, or join it?” Prime Minister Orbán confirmed that Hungary opted to stay out, resisting what he described as pressure from both sides. “Even in 2024, when both the U.S. and Brussels were trying to drag us into a military alliance to aid Ukraine, Hungary managed to stay out. That proves that a country with internal stability and political will can say no—even under simultaneous pressure”.
This decision brought about a complete recalibration of domestic policy. As the rest of Europe entered a phase of war-driven austerity, Hungary turned in the opposite direction. “We chose the path of a peace economy,” PM Orbán explained. “That’s why we introduced the doubled child tax credit, lifelong income tax exemption for mothers, the 14th month pension, an 11% minimum wage increase, and the Otthon Start fixed 3% housing lone scheme. He noted that while Western Europe is raising taxes and increasing living costs to fund war, Hungary is investing in families and small businesses.
Still, Hungary’s export-driven economy faces challenges. As its largest trading partner, Germany, embraces a war economy, Hungary must diversify. “The task is not to complain,” he said, “but to ask: where else can we sell our products?” This, he explained, is the rationale behind the country’s “connectivity” strategy, aimed at opening new markets beyond Europe.
Looking to 2026, Prime Minister Orbán posed what he called “the big question”: can the United States conclude a peace agreement with Russia without European participation? “That is the major question of 2026,” he said, warning that the answer could reshape the geopolitical balance—and Hungary’s position within it.
Rejecting any notion that Hungary must submit to pressure, he stated firmly: “Hungary is strong enough—just as we are—to stay out of a war, even if that means standing against the entire Western world or against Brussels”.
The European Union, he warned, has already made its choice. “Europe has decided it is going to war,” he said, noting that European Council meetings now resemble military briefings. “What used to be peaceful discussions have become war councils. We talk about how to defeat Russia, how to win the war with Ukraine. European leaders are walking ever closer to the edge—an abyss called war”.
For Hungary, the choice in 2026 will be clear: follow Brussels into war or remain on the path of peace and sovereignty.