Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sat for an interview on “MD MEETS“ with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner to discuss peace in Ukraine, Merz, Merkel, and Russia’s nuclear threat.
Orbán has been pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine since it began, for which he has only garnered harsh criticism and sanctions from Brussels. Accused by many establishment politicians in Europe as Russia’s mouthpiece, the Hungarian prime minister says he has no interest in who wins the war. “I don’t care whether Putin wins or loses or anything else. I am interested in the future of the European peoples, including Hungarians,” as cited by Welt.
As to the risk of Putin striking any NATO ally, Orbán dismissed this as “ridiculous.”
“The European Union has over 400 million people, Russia around 140 million. (…) If you add up the military capacities of the 27 EU countries, we are much stronger than Russia. The Russians have failed to completely occupy Ukraine for more than three years. How can we in Europe claim that we are weaker than Russia?”
However, Orbán also issued a dire warning, stating that a Russian defeat in Ukraine could have extraordinary consequences for all of Europe. He said that if Putin were to lose, he is “absolutely sure (…) that a nuclear risk is immediately on the table.”
Orbán used the interview to emphasize the importance of Germany’s role in bringing peace to Ukraine. “Without Germany, the European position will never be for peace. If the Germans are not immediately in favou of peace (…), then that means war.”
Dismissing that anything will improve and there would be better conditions for negotiations. “I’m willing to help the German chancellor (Merz) if I can to build peace –but he’s for war. (…) Time works more for the Russians than for us.”
Orbán criticized Merz for focusing his efforts on rearming Kyiv and risking a serious escalation. “We need to show our strength at the negotiating table, not at the front.”
On former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom the Hungarian prime minister recently received in Budapest, Orbán was all praise, despite their fervent disagreements on migration policy and the EU’s Green Deal.
“She even yelled at me sometimes,” he said, adding that Merkel is “very smart and generally a pleasant person” to work with.
He especially praised Merkel for her Russia policy: “I agreed with her almost 100 percent. There were meetings in the European Council where it was only she and I who argued for peace and cooperation.”
Commenting on how much good she did for Germany, Orbán called current criticism of Merkel “unfair.”
“Now it’s fashionable to talk badly about her. That’s not fair. She did good things for Germany, good things for Europe – and of course some bad things. But being correct and fair is important in politics. And on the Russian issue, she was right.” If she had been chancellor during Russia’s attack on Ukraine, “She would have called Putin immediately” and initiated a dialogue, he said.
Orbán also reiterated his admiration of U.S. President Donald Trump as a peacemaker and hopes that Hungary may succeed in helping him bring peace to Ukraine.
