The pro-war lobby has put the entire bloc in danger over Ukraine, said the Hungarian prime minister
The EU has abandoned its goal of ensuring peace and prosperity for its members, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday. Warning that the bloc is considering sending troops to Ukraine, Orban insisted that Hungary will continue to push for a ceasefire.
“Those who are pro-war have put the whole European Union in danger,” Orban told Radio Kossuth, referring to ongoing efforts by EU member states to arm Kiev’s forces. To date, Brussels has provided Kiev with just under $4 billion worth of weapons, while individual member states have donated tanks, artillery, and in the case of Poland and Slovakia, fighter jets to Ukraine.
“We expect two things from the European Union; the first is to have lasting peace.” Orban continued. “The second thing we expect from the EU is that it should preserve the prosperity it has achieved, but in comparison the war and the sanctions are destroying the European economy.”
Energy costs and inflation have risen across the EU since Brussels embargoed Russian fossil fuels following the launch of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine last February. This embargo and other sanctions have failed to paralyze the Russian economy, as its proponents predicted. Instead, Russia’s economy will grow faster this year than Germany’s, according to the IMF figures.
The prospect of world war is more urgent than the economic threat, Orban said. The Hungarian prime minister said in the interview on Friday that EU leaders were considering implementing the “peacekeeping” force in Ukraine. This, he argued, would be a catastrophic escalation.
“When European and American leaders say that if this continues, we could end up in a third world war, it seems incredibly exaggerated at first, but where I work and where I see events, this is a real danger at this moment.” he said.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that such a force would be Russia “direct enemies” and it would be “destroyed without mercy” on the battlefield.
“Peace talks are not what we should be talking about now, but a ceasefire,” Orban said, explaining that hostilities must be suspended before an agreement can be drawn up. Whatever happens in Ukraine, the prime minister stressed that Hungary will not participate. “They want to squeeze us into this war,” he said, referring to the leaders of the EU, but the question of “Whether Hungary should take part in the war…or whether it should stay out can only be decided in one place, the Hungarian parliament.”