Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
He also took the opportunity to slam the West, especially the European Union.
A weekend rally in central Hungary saw Prime Minister Viktor Orban casting the country’s 2026 parliamentary elections as a turning point.
Speaking in Kecskemet, he portrayed the coming vote as a decisive moment amid what he described as rising regional dangers, according to reporting from MTI cited by Agerpres.
A looming conflict
Orban told supporters that the political direction chosen in 2026 would determine Hungary’s proximity to war.
He argued that a government “aligned with Brussels” would pull the country into conflict, while a leadership focused on national interests could keep it out.
He reiterated that the front line in Ukraine felt “neither geographically nor politically” distant.
The prime minister claimed EU leaders had already shifted Europe toward a “war economy”, suggesting the bloc was preparing for a prolonged confrontation.
Warnings about isolation
Orban maintained that Hungary must rely primarily on its own capabilities, warning that failure to do so could leave the country “in a situation where everyone is our enemy instead of our friend”.
He criticised what he described as Western acceptance of war as an economic prospect, saying, “those in the West… believe that money can be made from this”.
He added that he expects intensified debate in the coming weeks over the future of €220–230 billion in frozen Russian assets held by European institutions.
Anti-Russian turned Putin’s friend
It might be hard to believe, but Orbán used to be very anti-Russian.
Some argue, that Orban’s pro-Putin shift began during the financial crisis of 2008, where he started to believe that the U.S. was not going to be the dominant superpower in the future.
In 2010, he announced his foreign relations plan, which heavily prioritized Russia as a viable ally.
Orban has repeatedly refused to impose sanctions on Russia, and this was also the case, when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Criticism of EU sanctions
Orban also accused Western governments of ceding decisions over the conflict to economic actors rather than elected officials.
He called the EU’s refusal to exempt Hungary from energy-related sanctions on Russia “evil”, contrasting it with what he described as an earlier exemption granted by US President Donald Trump.
He argued that Brussels treats sanctions as a trade policy tool that does not require unanimous approval from member states, a stance he strongly opposes.
Sources: MTI, Agerpres
