Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has predicted that the European Union “will fall apart on its own“ due to “chaos in leadership“, while accusing Brussels of seeking to deprive Hungary of Russian energy supplies. This is reported by Euronews, News.bg reports.
During a press conference on Monday, Orban rejected the possibility of his country leaving the EU, saying that Hungary is not big enough to afford such a move. He stressed that the country's future remains within the European Union and NATO, but on the condition of “sovereign foreign and economic policy“.
“EU membership is an important opportunity, but if we limit ourselves to this bloc, we will exhaust ourselves. "It is logical to maintain the best possible relations with all major centers - including the United States, Russia, China, the Arab world and the Turkish world," Orbán said.
On energy, the Hungarian prime minister said that Brussels is seeking to cut off Russian oil and gas supplies to the country. He said the government is responding through legal actions against the European Commission and political resistance to EU regulations, in the hope that sanctions will be lifted by 2027, when he believes the war will end.
Orbán also said that Hungary will not provide financial assistance to Ukraine. "We have money, if we don't give it to others, that's why we don't give our money to Ukraine," he said, adding that Budapest will not grant loans either, as he believes it is clear that they will not be repaid.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Hungary has become a major obstacle to the EU's military and financial support for Ukraine, forcing the 27 member states to seek workarounds to bypass Budapest's veto.
On the topic of migration, Orbán said that Hungary will not accept Brussels determining "who we should live with". He rejected a planned EU regulation due to be adopted in June that would have required member states to take in 350 migrants each and process more than 20,000 asylum applications.
Hungary has already refused to participate in the EU’s common asylum schemes and has built border fences to limit migration pressure, leading to lengthy legal battles and sharp criticism from Brussels.
Regarding reports of a financial deal with Donald Trump, Orbán confirmed that he had requested one and that an agreement had been reached. Trump himself, however, had previously denied such claims, telling Politico in November that he had not promised anything, despite Orbán’s insistence.
Finally, the Hungarian prime minister said that the details of the so-called “defensive shield“ were still being worked out. He said Hungary needed “some kind of protective shield” since World War I and cannot rely entirely on Brussels.