In an interview broadcast on the Patriota YouTube channel on Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he was expecting an overwhelming election victory of his Fidesz party in 2026, a "landslide win in a fair fight".
"Politics is a humane thing; all kinds of characters cannot win ... you cannot build a party on crime or infidelity, or a community on treachery; you can, but only temporarily, because it will fall apart anyway," PM Orbán said. He said his party would win because it has "hundreds, even thousands of local leaders that are known in the community ... and the people know what their strengths and weaknesses are."
"It is based on the very strong position held in real life" that Fidesz can achieve a result similar to that of 2022 at the next parliamentary election, PM Orbán said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said that "all Europe's problems" such as economic stagnation, high inflation and high food and energy prices were rooted in the war in Ukraine.
PM Orbán noted his visits to Ukraine, Russia, China, and the US a year ago aimed at forging a peace initiative but said he had been "rejected" in Kyiv.
PM Orbán said Zelensky had introduced a new type of "influencer politician, an actor, or comedian". He added that Zelensky's prior experience was "not helping with what he has to do now, especially not in the midst of war." According to PM Orbán, Zelensky is "acting out a president" and the two had "not succeeded in discussing deeper context".
PM Orbán said the latest NATO summit had revealed a division over the matter, with the United States and Europe being on strategically different paths. "America is on the peace path, while we are on that of war," Orban said. The US, he said, had warned the belligerents that unless they were ready to cooperate, they would be left on their own.
The prime minister warned that Europe could be left alone to grapple with all the negative financial, economic, and security consequences of the war. He said all parties should understand that "a ceasefire and peace are the way to the future". But, he added, Europe "wants to continue the war and Ukraine also thinks that if Europe finances them it is worth going on." And Russia "sees that there is no understanding, so they will go ahead once they have made so much sacrifice for the military actions so far," he added. "Everybody is more interested in the war and not so much in peace," Orban said.
"The war cannot be won in the battlefield; it can only be concluded through diplomacy ... there will be a ceasefire and peace if there is a personal meeting between the presidents of Russia and the US," Orban said. In the absence of personal talks between the two, the war could go on "for long, long months", he added.
If one were to draw a map on who is who in this geopolitical situation, then Turkey, the US, Slovakia and Hungary are on the side of peace, and the remaining twenty-five countries in Europe are on the pro-war side, he said.
Ukraine has the right to decide on its own future, but they cannot expect us to help them in a failed strategy, Orban said. And continuing the war, which they have the right to do, is something that is bad for Europe and could have terrible consequences for Hungary, he added.
Ukraine must be prevented from "coming into" the EU, PM Orbán said, adding that he had vetoed Ukraine's endeavours on basis of the Voks2025 referendum. He was asked if Hungary's veto could be "bypassed" and he said it was not possible legally, but added that"Brussels is openly in violation of the law ... it is not impossible that they could get around us temporarily". He suggested, however, that the the EU "cannot afford passing the final decision on Ukraine's accession without unanimous consent."
The prime minister said there would be a bitter moment when European leaders - with the exception of Hungary and Slovakia - would have to admit that they had been pursuing the wrong strategy. This war has already been lost by the European Union, and even though they are holding the front line, it has also been lost by Ukraine, he said.