“Hungary’s participation in the Board of Peace is not only based on our principles, but also stems from our own security interests,” PM Orbán emphasized at the press conference.
He described the Board as a response to the failure of traditional global institutions to reduce the number of armed conflicts. “There are major international organizations, such as the UN, whose dedicated and expected goal is to reduce the dangers of crisis hotspots. And what we have seen for many years is that these traditional and established institutions are not fulfilling, are unable to fulfill this task. There are countless meetings, committee sessions, everything exists—yet the number of wars is increasing,” the prime minister said.
According to PM Orbán, the initiative was originally triggered by the situation in Gaza. “The whole thing was triggered by Gaza, so that’s where we started. As is logical in the case of a pragmatic American government made up of proper businessmen: ‘Here is a problem, let’s look at it and start solving it,’” he noted. While the Board currently focuses primarily on Gaza, he added that he would be “very surprised if at the second or third meeting we were not already talking about eliminating another hotspot.”
Explaining Hungary’s involvement, Prime Minister Orbán recalled the 2015 migration crisis, arguing that instability in the Middle East directly affects Hungary’s border security. “If there is peace in the Middle East, then it is easier to defend the Hungarian border. If there is no peace in the Middle East, then it is difficult to defend the Hungarian border because the number of illegal migrants increases,” he stated.
Turning to Europe’s role, PM Orbán said that “I am sure that as has happened in other matters before, we move forward, and then the others will come as well. Hungary does not have truth, but it will have truth.”
On the widening differences between Washington and Brussels, PM Orbán said: “The Americans are continuously making peace initiatives, they are in direct contact with the Russians, they are negotiating, while European leaders have decided to continue the war.” He added, “My firm statement is that they are not planning or thinking about it, but have made a decision that the Russians must be defeated on Ukrainian territory, and they speak about this openly. This does not point in the direction of peace, but towards war.”
Addressing the Druzhba oil pipeline directly, PM Orbán stressed that there is no technical reason preventing oil transit. “The Druzhba oil pipeline is operational. There is no technical obstacle whatsoever to the Ukrainians restarting oil transport. There is no point in debating this, it is a question of fact,” he said.
He argued that under the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement, Ukrainian measures must not endanger the energy security of EU member states. “Now they are endangering it,” the prime minister added.
Prime Minister Orbán stated that Brussels has a contractual obligation to defend Hungary and Slovakia. As the injured contracting party, represented by Brussels in the agreement, Hungary expects the European Commission to “summon and question” the Ukrainians over what he described as a breach of contract. “Two EU member states have been put at risk because of their decision,” PM Orbán said, adding that “those who shut down the Druzhba pipeline are the ones who blew up Nord Stream.”
He acknowledged that Brussels faces a political dilemma: while “its heart is with the Ukrainians,” Hungary is an EU member state and Ukraine is not. Therefore, he argued, the Commission must act according to its legal obligations rather than political sympathies. “It must stand up for the interests of the member states, so now it must stand by Hungary and Slovakia against Ukraine. That is its job, that is what we expect,” the prime minister stated.
Finally, PM Orbán connected the dispute to Hungary’s domestic politics. “The Ukrainians have an interest in there being a Ukraine-friendly government in Hungary,” he said, rejecting claims that his government is anti-Ukrainian and insisting it is simply pro-Hungarian.
“Ukraine is interested in there being chaos in Hungary, preferably chaos of a kind whose price is paid by the people, and in this way they can contribute to the creation of a government favorable to them,” PM Orbán declared.
He concluded by underlining the stakes of the upcoming elections: “One of the stakes of the election is whether there will be a Ukraine-friendly government, whether Hungarian money, later Hungarian weapons, and Hungarian young people will be taken to the war—or not,” Prime Minister Orbán said.