Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that EU leaders are preparing for war with Russia and have set themselves the goal of achieving full readiness by 2030.
„European leaders have decided that Europe will go to war. There is a decision on this issue. The official position is that we should be ready for this by 2030,” the politician said during a speech at a meeting of activists of the ruling Fidesz party - Hungarian Civic Union in Kecskemét.
Orbán noted that the transition to a military conflict usually goes through four stages: severance of diplomatic relations, imposition of sanctions, cessation of economic cooperation and, ultimately, direct confrontation.
Hungary's task in this regard is to “keep Europe from war“, the politician emphasized.
According to Orbán, the European Union is already beginning the transition to a military economy and European countries are seeking to reorient their transport companies towards weapons production.
On December 2, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó warned that Europe is preparing for war with Russia and the main question in the near future will be whether the conflict can be avoided altogether. According to him, the EU's strategic documents envisage achieving full combat readiness by 2029, which makes war with Russia possible from 2030.
Russia has also noticed an increase in conflict rhetoric. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on December 4 that Europe is “deliberately“ preparing for armed conflict with Russia and “maniacally” attributes to Moscow an intention to attack.
„The economy, society and the military are deliberately preparing for an inevitable armed clash with Russia, which is defined as a long-term threat and to which absurd intentions to attack are maniacally attributed“, he noted.
Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev called the statements coming from Europe about a possible war “extremely dangerous”.
„It is extremely worrying that many politicians in Europe, the very source of two world wars, have begun to consider a new war almost inevitable. We cannot allow such irresponsible statements to become self-fulfilling prophecies,“, the senator stressed.
According to a Cluster17 poll, 51% of EU residents consider the risk of war between the European Union and Russia to be high. Another 46% rate it as low or non-existent.
Countries show a wide range of opinions. In Poland, 77% of respondents see a high risk, while in Italy, 65% of respondents consider the threat to be minimal or not at all.