Viktor Orbán began Friday with an interview on Kossuth Radio’s “Good Morning, Hungary!” program. Regarding Russian energy dependence, he said that Hungary and the United States are both sovereign countries and “there is no obligation for us to accept each other’s arguments.” The Prime Minister also talked about Antifa, which the government has declared a terrorist organization, and is compiling a national list of such organizations.
“The government must take the lead in making it clear that Hungary wants to remain a peaceful and safe country.” Viktor Orbán emphasized this as he believes that politics today takes place in a “nervous, violent, aggressive” environment, which is a result of the “general state of our continent.” The head of government explained that today’s politicians have a responsibility not to allow this environment to enter into public debates.
As an example of this environment, he mentioned Antifa, a network of left-wing terrorist organizations. Regarding the attacks committed by the organization’s members in Budapest in February 2023, he said that “those who committed crimes were caught, arrested, and brought to justice.” However, one of them “fled” to the European Parliament, where she is protected by immunity, the Prime Minister said, referring to the case of Ilaria Salis.
The head of government emphasized that, in his opinion, it is necessary to go further: “In this situation, it must be said that Antifa and its affiliated organizations are terrorist organizations.” He explained that even before they commit crimes, measures must be taken against them. “The government decided at its meeting on Wednesday to declare Antifa a terrorist organization,” he said. He added:
We will draw up a national list of terrorist organizations that Hungary considers to be such. We will take the strictest measures against them.”
He emphasized that “the government must take the lead in ensuring that violent illegal intentions do not go unpunished and without consequences.”
Russian energy sources
When asked if there are alternatives to Russian energy sources, Viktor Orbán replied that Hungary has no coastline, therefore energy can only be transported via gas and oil pipelines. He explained that, for the time being, no one can point to a pipeline that could supply Hungary. He added that
if Hungary were cut off from Russian crude oil and natural gas, the country would immediately face a 4 percent decline in GDP.
“Hundreds of thousands of families would be ruined in an instant. There would be no energy, and what there was would increase in price many times over,” he noted.
Fact
The issue of Hungary’s separation from Russian energy came back into the spotlight this week when US President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As Hungary Today reported, President Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart at the meeting that he would talk to his “friend, Viktor Orbán,” to which Zelenskyy responded that, in his opinion, Hungarians are not yet ready to stop buying Russian gas.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister responded to the Donald Trump’s statement by saying, “we fully support the US President’s efforts to promote peace, but we cannot change the reality of our geographical situation.”
In Friday’s interview, the Prime Minister expressed his opinion that “Hungary must not behave as if it could be manipulated from outside.”
It is clearly in Hungary’s interest. We will act accordingly. (…) We will listen to everyone, respond calmly to everyone, and then do what is in the interest of the Hungarian people,”
explained Viktor Orbán, who said that he had since spoken to the US President about this.
The Prime Minister added that “America is a big country, Hungary is smaller, but we are similar in one respect: both are sovereign countries.” He emphasized that this is precisely why there is no obligation for either side to accept the other’s arguments.
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Featured image: Miniszterelnöki Kommunikációs Főosztály/Fischer Zoltán
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