The prime minister said the way Kyiv was attempting to control and shape relations with central European countries was “unacceptable”.
Commenting on Ukraine’s halt of gas transit deliveries to Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a joint press conference with his Slovak counterpart in Bratislava on Tuesday that there were “aggressive and hostile remarks” coming out of Kyiv.
PM Orbán said in response to a question after talks with Robert Fico that the gas transit issue could not be resolved using “aggressive and hostile remarks”. He said Ukraine was no longer in a position “to afford this” in light of the ongoing global changes he said were “working against Kyiv”.
“If they remain aggressive and hostile … they’ll end up annoying us and we’ll take countermeasures,” he said.
The prime minister said he fully supported Fico’s efforts to find a solution to the issue of gas shipments through negotiations, adding that their stoppage threatened not just Slovakia but also Hungary’s interests and the entire region’s energy security.
PM Orbán said the way Kyiv was attempting to control and shape relations with central European countries was “unacceptable”.
“We show respect, but we also expect to be shown respect, and if we raise a serious issue, they should be at our disposal so that we could debate it the way we do in Europe,” he said.
PM Orbán said that regardless of what Brussels said about Ukraine’s European Union membership, it required the unanimous approval of member states, including Hungary and Slovakia.
Ukraine, he added, could not behave as if the world, Bratislava and Budapest “danced to its tune”. “It might have been that way under the US Democratic administration but that’s over, and now a new era of peace is about to begin,” Orban said. He said he had the impression that Kyiv was “not yet aware that the balance of power has radically changed and that the central European countries have to be taken seriously”.
Concerning Ukraine’s NATO aspirations, he said its membership in the alliance was not and would not be on the agenda, arguing that it would never have unanimous support.
PM Orbán said the reason for the war between Russia and Ukraine was that the Russians had made it clear that they were willing to prevent Ukraine’s NATO membership even at the cost of war and a military offensive. He said admitting Ukraine to NATO would result in an immediate and direct war with Russia, which Hungary did not want. He added that everything needed to be done to achieve peace, and Hungary did not support admitting Ukraine to NATO because that “would equal war”.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said that Ukraine’s immediate accession to the EU would “ruin” Hungary. He said the EU could not afford the financial costs of admitting Ukraine to the bloc, “and we don’t want to bankrupt our own country”. He said Ukraine joining the EU would lead to tens of thousands of Hungarian farmers going bankrupt, and the EU funds earmarked for economic development would have to be given to Ukraine.
PM Orbán said talks on Ukraine’s EU accession were worthwhile, but it would take years or even decades before its accession could be completed.
PM Orbán pointed out that because new EU members are decided on by the existing member states, Ukraine should not anger its neighbours. “If Ukraine knows what’s good for it, it should settle its relations with Slovakia and Hungary, it should show respect and behave the way an EU candidate country ought to,” the prime minister added.
Concerning his talks with Fico, Orban said there was no doubt that both Hungary and Slovakia are and will remain members of NATO and the EU. Hungary’s memberships in both organisations was decided in referendums, so the government has no possibility or intention to change that, he added.
Referring to the inauguration of the new US president, Orban said Hungarians were sometimes said to be “isolated on the international political stage … but as of yesterday, we are the mainstream”, adding that the new Western mainstream was pro-peace, family-friendly and anti-migration.
He said Hungary continued to have a vested interest in the war ending as soon as possible.
He said those in Brussels “can’t see how quickly everything has changed”, and continued to pursue a “pro-war policy”, adding that it would take time for Brussels to adjust to the new situation.
PM Orbán said it was “bad news” that Brussels wanted to “continue the war and its sanctions policy”. He said low energy prices were needed, and the actions of Brussels and Kyiv were driving up prices.
The prime minister said it would not be easy to “find the right political direction” with Ukraine after the war, arguing that the large amount of weapons in the country posed a risk to its neighbours.
He said there was also a threat that Brussels would divert the funding owed to Hungary and Slovakia to Ukraine, adding that regional cooperation would be needed to protect these countries’ interests.
Meanwhile, he said Hungarian-Slovak relations were more successful than they had been in a long time, noting that Slovakia has become Hungary’s second-most important trading partner after Germany.
He noted that the two countries have recently built bridges, opened border crossing stations and linked their electricity grids and gas interconnectors whose capacity will be increased by around a billion cubic metres.
