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Orbán strikes deal with NATO, Hungary will not be forced to participate in military action in Ukraine nor finance the war

Remix News | June 12, 2024

At a press conference following the meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Hungary walked away with guarantees that it will be allowed to maintain its pro-peace stance.

“Today we have received guarantees that in the case of the Ukraine-Russia war, we will not have to take part in any military action outside the territory of Hungary and that Hungary will not give money to this common burden, nor will it send men to this war, nor will Hungary’s territory be used for the purpose of joining this war. We have been granted everything that we have found necessary,” announced Orbán.

He added that Hungary continues to be an active participant in NATO operations, highlighting the 1,300 Hungarian soldiers on NATO missions; air policing activities in Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Baltic states; and its role as a liaison across Central Asia and Africa.

For his part, Secretary General Stoltenberg reiterated Hungary’s right to autonomy while also guaranteeing that Orbán will in no way stand in the way of other NATO members’ decisions to become more involved in the conflict.

“Prime Minister Orbán has made it clear that Hungary will not participate in these NATO efforts, and I accept this position. (…) No Hungarian personnel will take part in these activities, and no Hungarian funds will be used to support them. At the same time, the prime minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose these efforts, enabling other allies to move forward,” stated the NATO secretary general.

Throughout this conflict, Orbán has maintained the position that Hungary, as a NATO member, is under no obligation to send troops or facilitate military operations on the ground in any way. Today, Secretary General Stoltenberg confirmed this, stating:

“It’s not a NATO obligation to participate in all NATO missions and operations or activities, as long as all NATO allies adhere to the core obligations in the Washington Treaty, our collective defense, our security guarantees.”

June 12, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Belgium wants to silence Hungary’s anti-war voice, Hungarian FM Szijjártó claims

BY DÉNES ALBERT | REMIX NEWS | JUNE 4, 2024

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib is taking the initiative to exclude Hungary from EU decision-making processes, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has claimed.

Speaking in Budapest on Monday, the senior Hungarian government minister accused Eurocrats of wanting to suppress the pro-peace forces and remove the last obstacle to war by silencing and excluding Hungary from strategic talks.

The minister was reacting to a recent statement by his Belgian counterpart who called for the Article 7 rule of law procedure against Hungary to be stepped up, thus depriving Hungary of its voting rights in the Council of the European Union.

He said that those who may have doubted the importance of this week’s European Parliament elections may now be convinced that such a decision has perhaps never been before the Hungarian people, as the war frenzy in Brussels has taken hold and those who are for peace are being silenced.

“There is a lockdown panic, six days to go until the European elections, six days to go before people pull the emergency brake on the pro-war train, which is currently hurtling towards its final destination, a third world war, in a seemingly unstoppable way,” Szijjártó warned.

“On June 9, the European people can pull the emergency brake, but it is clear that in the remaining days, Brussels will continue to do everything in its power to silence all those who speak for peace and against war,” he said.

“The Belgian Foreign Minister is taking the initiative to exclude Hungary so that we Hungarians should not be able to represent our position, that we Hungarians should not be able to express our opinion on what we think about the consequences of our common decisions, that we Hungarians should not be able to say that we do not want to go to war, but that we want peace, that we Hungarians should not be able to say what kind of war madness is going on in Europe today, and that we Hungarians should not be able to say that the threat of a third world war is getting closer,” he said.

“So the importance of June 9 has also increased. We need very strong support, a big victory, to be able to resist the pressure in the weeks and months to come, to be able to speak out strongly for peace, to be able to stand up against the preparations for a third world war here in Europe,” he added.

The move comes just weeks before Hungary is scheduled to take over the rolling EU presidency on July 1 for six months.

June 4, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Almost half of Hungarians oppose any aid for Ukraine, only 16% support sending weapons

BY DÉNES ALBERT | REMIX NEWS | MAY 31, 2024

A new poll in Hungary shows that 46 percent of Hungarians believe that the European Union should not support Ukraine at any level, which was attacked by the Russians more than two years ago.

According to the poll conducted by Závecz Research on behalf of 24.hu, 32 percent of those polled are more permissive and would support EU assistance through financial, economic and humanitarian means, while only 16 percent of the population would also send arms and other military equipment to Ukraine.

The poll reveals that Orbán’s stance of supporting humanitarian aid for Ukraine while rejecting sending weapons is generally in line with what the population is willing to support, while there are still many Hungarians who want to take the step of cutting off support entirely.

Women back Orbán’s pro-peace position

Fifty-four percent of women are in favor of staying out of the war altogether, compared with only 38 percent of men. At the same time, a higher proportion of men (26 percent) would send weapons than women (10 percent).

In a breakdown by age groups, young and middle-aged people are more likely to be unwilling to provide any support (47 and 51 percent, respectively), while among those aged 60 and over, more people would definitely send some help, and only 41 percent are completely against doing so, the paper noted.

The survey also found that 40 percent in Budapest, 47 percent in cities, and 49 percent in towns and villages said they would not give any aid to Ukraine.

By level of education, 54 percent of those with primary education support a complete withdrawal from the war, while 43 percent support this position among those with secondary education. Among those with higher education, the proportion who support cutting all aid to Ukraine is only 34 percent, while 26 percent of this demographic would also support Ukraine with weapons.

May 31, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Top Hungarian Diplomat Criticizes NATO Plans to Let Ukraine Strike Inside Russia

Sputnik – 30.05.2024

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto decried NATO plans to let Ukraine use Western-supplied weapons to hit targets in Russia as “insane,” warning that Russia’s response would be multifold.

“I think it is an insane idea because, as we have seen before, Russia will respond. There is no lack of munitions or equipment in Russia. Its response will be multifold,” Szijjarto told Hungarian reporters in Brussels.

The Hungarian minister called for an end to “this madness” before it spiraled out of control.

Szijjarto also criticized a proposal made by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that NATO take over the coordination of military aid to Ukraine, giving the alliance a more active role in the conflict. Szijjarto argued that NATO was wiping out its own red lines.

Earlier in the week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed he was in favor of lifting restrictions on the use of Western weapons on “legitimate targets” on Russian territory.

May 30, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

Over 500,000 people expected to attend largest pro-peace march ever in Hungary

A photo from the last peace march in Budapest in 2022, which saw nearly half a million take to the streets calling for an end to war in Europe.
BY DÉNES ALBERT | REMIX NEWS | MAY 30, 2024

Hungary is gearing up for the largest pro-peace march in the nation’s post-communist history on June 1, with over half a million people expected to attend in Budapest. Among the attendees will be Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who will deliver a speech at the event calling for peace in Europe, a message he has continually promoted since the war broke out in Ukraine.

“This time we are preparing for the biggest peace march ever, we have never received so many messages from Hungarians in Hungary and abroad,” Zoltán Lomnici Jr., spokesman of the Civil Union Forum (CÖF) and the Civil Union Public Benefit Foundation (CÖKA), told Magyar Nemzet.

The constitutional lawyer noted that this year, on June 1, the peace march, which was first launched in 2012 by CÖF-CÖKA and its intellectual defenders, will be organized for the tenth time. The peace marches are the largest civil initiatives following regime change in Hungary in 1989 and have seen the largest crowds gather for any political or social mobilization.

In a country of nearly 9.7 million, if the protest actually manages to attract a crowd of 500,000, it would equal a crowd of 4 million in Germany proportionally speaking.

“The organization of a pre-election peace rally is an excellent opportunity for the courageous civilian supporters of peace to voice their firm commitment to peace, thus legitimizing the line taken by the civilian-national government on the issue of war and potentially contributing to the advance of the pro-peace forces that have long been the hallmark of genuine civil society in the EU,” said Lomnici.

At the last peace march in 2022, nearly half a million people took part, according to CÖF-CÖKA President László Csizmadia. The first peace march was organized in 2012 in support of Viktor Orbán’s government standing up to what he called EU blackmail.

Hungarians overwhelmingly support a ceasefire in the conflict in Ukraine, according to numerous polls. Despite the left’s history of anti-war stances, the left-liberal parties in power in Europe are now the biggest promoters of continued war in Ukraine, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is now the only leader calling for a ceasefire besides Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who remains in the hospital with severe wounds after an assassin shot him numerous times over his stance on Ukraine.

The peace march in Hungary is expected to be a show of force in support of peace in the country, a point reaffirmed by Lomnici. The constitutional lawyer said that such a mass event demonstrates social power and is undeniable proof of the will of a people, which, in Hungary’s case, is a desire for peace.

According to Lomnici, the importance of the event and the cause it represents — a stand for peace — is supported by the fact that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will be present and will speak at 3 p.m.

First, this shows that the government considers the cause of peace to be of strategic importance. Second, people can see and hear the prime minister in person, which strengthens trust and a sense of direct political involvement in the cause for peace.

Third, it represents a guarantee that the people who voted for the prime minister know he remains dedicated to pursuing peace in Europe despite enormous pressure, including potential threats on his life. This guarantee means that Hungary will not allow itself to be dragged into a war that is still escalating rapidly right at Hungary’s doorstep, which also affects Hungary’s fellow citizens in Transcarpathia, home to 150,000 ethnic Hungarians, many of whom have already lost their lives at the frontlines in Ukraine.

According to Lomnici, Hungary’s sovereign pro-peace position must be respected by all decision-makers in Europe and in the Western alliance systems.

May 30, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Solidarity and Activism | , | Leave a comment

EU disunited over $7-billion weapons delivery to Ukraine – Borrell

RT | May 28, 2024

There is still no agreement on a $7 billion (€6.6 billion) EU military aid package for Ukraine, the bloc’s foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell has said, according to remarks made to the press that were published on Tuesday.

The remarks follow a meeting this week of EU foreign and defense ministers focusing on the Ukraine conflict.

According to Borrell, there are “seven legal acts to be approved” in order to mobilize the billions in military aid under the Ukrainian Assistance Fund.

“This has not been possible [for] quite a long time because there is not [an] agreement for the consensus needed,” he explained.

“You know that we need unanimity – unanimity [has] not [been] there for months,” he admitted.

According to Politico, diplomats had hoped to have the new package ready ahead of this week’s meetings in Brussels but this didn’t happen due to resistance from Hungary.

Budapest has been a vocal critic of unbridled Western support for Ukraine and has refused to provide any military aid to Kiev, either directly or through the EU. Hungarian officials have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, insisting that EU sanctions against Russia have failed to undermine its economy and have instead boomeranged against the bloc.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday that his government remained committed to blocking the €6.6 billion military aid package, despite the “ruckus” among fellow EU foreign ministers.

According to Borrell, an EU plan to use profits from frozen Russian sovereign assets to buy weapons for Ukraine has also stalled due to resistance from Budapest.

Western nations have seized some $300-billion-worth of Russian assets, most of which are held in the EU. Brussels’ plan, which Borrell strongly supports, would provide some $3.25 billion (€3 billion) for Ukraine this year alone. Moscow has warned that it will retaliate, should its property be “stolen” by the US and its allies.

The EU and its member states have so far mobilized nearly $35 billion in military support for Ukraine, according to data published on the European Commission’s website. This includes over $6.5 billion under the European Peace Facility to support the delivery of military equipment.

In March 2024, the European Council established a dedicated Ukrainian Assistance Fund worth almost $5.5 billion.

May 28, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

As Ukrainian casualties soar, EU will move to conscript European youth to fight, warns Hungarian FM

Remix News | May 27, 2024

Ukraine’s high causality rates combined with its struggle to conscript its own population means the EU will increasingly move to conscript European youth, mostly in the geographical proximity of Ukraine, to fight against Russia, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó following a meeting with EU foreign ministers.

“Ukrainian casualties are becoming more and more unbearable, Ukrainian men are not being allowed out of Ukraine, and now they want to conscript European youth into the war. And obviously, as the escalation hits this neighborhood first, one can almost clearly hear the argument that the soldiers should be sent from the geographical proximity first. All this means that they want to send Central European youth, including Hungarian youth, to the war with mandatory European conscription,” said Szijjártó during an interview with Hungarian media.

The Hungarian foreign minister said he would be firmly opposed to any efforts to institute a European mandatory conscription effort, stating: “Hands off Central Europeans, hands off Hungarian youth, we will not allow Hungarian youth to be involved in the war, because this is not our war.”

Szijjártó did not disclose which foreign ministers or member states are exploring the possibility of a European conscription effort, but recently, several countries have said they would consider sending their own troops to Ukraine if Russia had a breakthrough on the Ukrainian front, including France and more recently, the Baltic states.

However, a long-term goal of the left-liberal establishment in Brussels is the creation of an EU military force, including removing the decision-making process about defense from member states and centralizing it in Brussels. Under such a proposal, a potential conscription effort could arise that applies to all EU member states.

Szijjártó described an extremely intense atmosphere at the Council of Foreign Ministers in Brussels before the European Parliament elections. He stated that the mood turned sour when those present began to talk about the release of €6.5 billion for Ukraine, which the Hungarian foreign minister rejected, saying it would only escalate the war. However, his position came under extreme pressure from a number of other countries.

“And there was a big mess here. The German, Lithuanian, Irish, Polish and other colleagues fell against me in this matter, but this could not shake our position, despite the shouting of Europe’s pro-war politicians,” he said.

“They think that if they shout from many directions, then I will say that it is good, it is fine. However, they should already know us well enough to know this won’t happen,” he added.

May 27, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

French PM reveals how countries like Poland will be flooded with migrants his country doesn’t want

‘They either accept migrants or pay’

BY GRZEGORZ ADAMCZYK | REMIX NEWS | MAY 27, 2024

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s claim that the EU migration pact will mean illegal migrants will be transferred to Central Europe and will not go to France, has caused uproar on the Polish right.

“The migration pact introduces solidarity. We managed to force eastern countries to sign a document according to which they either accept migrants or pay,” said Attal during a television debate.

The leader of the Polish conservative Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) over the weekend that his party would be calling for an emergency meeting of the Polish parliament to consider the remarks made by France’s Attal during a television debate.

Attal claimed that the French provinces are safe from being allocated migrants covered by the EU migration pact, as the migrants will in the first instance be sent to Central and Eastern Europe. Kaczyński contrasted Attal’s statement with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s claim that the migration pact will not affect Poland because it has taken in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.

“It seems that Tusk once again is saying one thing in the EU and another in Poland,” said Kaczyński.

Conservatives in countries like Hungary and Poland have long warned that the EU’s recently passed migration pact was a ploy to transfer unwanted migrants to countries like Poland and Hungary, despite the West claiming that more migration and diversity was always a good thing and a source of “strength.”

Kaczyński said the parliamentary session on the EU migration pact should receive detailed information from PM Tusk with regard to the circumstances in which his government had failed to block the EU migration pact on the reallocation of migrants entering EU states.

Senior PiS MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski told independent television channel TV Republika that the migration pact will act as “a pump for migrants from Africa” and the Middle East who will see the pact as an invitation to come to Europe.

Saryusz-Wolski reminded that EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson has admitted that Europe needs to have 4.5 million migrants coming every single year “to bridge the demographic gap, change society and provide the left with future voters.”

The Polish government did vote against the EU migration pact at a session of the Council of the European Union, the body in which decisions are made by qualified majority. Kaczyński and PiS have consistently argued that the decision on the pact should be made by the European Council, at which all decisions must be unanimous. In the Council of the European Union, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia voted against the migration pact, which will introduce migrant quotas, but the new law carried the day as most EU states backed it.

The most controversial aspect of the EU migration pact is the provision that should member states refuse to take their share of the reallocated migrants, they will have to pay up to €23,000 for every migrant refused.

May 27, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , , , | Leave a comment

Orban Foresees Dire Consequences If EU Militarism Continues Unchecked

Sputnik – 26.05.2024

BUDAPEST – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday that he had never seen greater irresponsibility than Europe getting involved in the conflict in Ukraine without calculating what it would cost.

“Europe is becoming so involved in the war that it does not even have an estimate of the scale of the costs and means necessary to achieve its military objective. I have never seen anything more irresponsible in my life,” Orban said in an interview with the Patriota YouTube channel.

He added that, in his opinion, NATO wanted to become a party to the conflict in Ukraine and “the chances that the alliance can be kept from doing so are limited.”
Budapest is against having decisions on the service of Hungarian citizens made “in Brussels or Germany,” Orban emphasized.

“We don’t want anyone else to be able to make decisions about conscription and sending our young men of draft age anywhere. We have to forget about a European army with compulsory conscription, this is a crazy idea,” the prime minister stressed.

Earlier in May, Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party, the largest one in the European Parliament, suggested reinstating compulsory military service across the entire European Union.

If Weber’s idea was implemented, “Hungarian families would be told from Brussels or Germany that their children would be compulsorily conscripted into the European army and told where they would go,” Orban added.

In the years to come, current events may be seen as a prelude to World War III or even its first episode if Brussels’ militarism is not countered, the Hungarian prime minister warned.

“Perhaps in 10 years the current processes will be called a prelude to World War III. It cannot be ruled out that if things go badly and we fail to control the military psychosis developed in Brussels, the history of these years will also be an episode of the first years of the big world war,” Orban said in an interview with the YouTube channel Patrióta.

Although European politicians see nuclear weapons as a deterrent, unforeseen worst-case scenarios could come to life, the Hungarian prime minister emphasized.

“In my opinion, European politicians think of the nuclear bomb as a tactical deterrence tool and not as something that should really be used, but what they don’t consider at the beginning of a war can still happen at the end, thus worst-case scenarios can come to life,” Orban explained.

Previously, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper that the United States threatened Moscow with the “destruction” of Russian forces in the special military operation zone if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitriy Medvedev said Poland should understand that an American strike on Russian troops would mean the beginning of a world war.

May 26, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Hungary blocking EU plan to give Russian money to Ukraine – FT

RT | May 25, 2024

Hungary has blocked legislation that would allow the EU hand over profits earned on frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing sources.

The West froze around $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets when the Ukraine conflict escalated, trapping around $280 billion in the EU. While the bloc stopped short of confiscating the assets outright due to legal concerns, earlier this week it approved the use of interest generated from the assets to provide military aid to Kiev. The annual revenue is estimated to be around $3 billion.

However, according to five FT sources familiar with internal discussions among EU ambassadors, Hungary’s envoy has opposed expedited payments to Ukraine using Russian interest income. “For the time being they are blocking everything connected to the military support to Ukraine,” one source said, adding the situation would not change until next month’s elections for the European Parliament, at the earliest.

To placate Hungary, the EU reportedly proposed a deal under which its share of the bloc’s funds would not be used to purchase weapons for Ukraine. According to FT, this had limited success, as Budapest agreed not to veto the transfer of revenue to Ukraine. However, it is holding up the implementation of the decision by failing to support the necessary legislation, the article says.

The outlet also said that while Hungary is not opposed to sending the Russian money to Ukraine per se, it has concerns about making the payments automatic.

Meanwhile, Moscow has denounced the decision to transfer profits from its assets to Ukraine as blatant and illegal “expropriation.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the move “potentially dangerous,” and warned of possible repercussions, including lawsuits.

Hungary has been a consistent critic of the West’s approach to the Ukraine conflict, particularly its arms shipments to Kiev. Officials in Budapest have repeatedly called for a ceasefire, insisting that EU sanctions against Russia have failed to undermine its economy and have boomeranged against the bloc.

At the end of last year, Hungary delayed the EU’s €50 billion ($54 billion) aid package to Ukraine for several weeks, but eventually backed down under Western pressure.

May 25, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Orbán: We have enough warmongers in the EU parliament, don’t send more

BY DÉNES ALBERT | REMIX NEWS | MAY 15, 2024

The campaign for the European parliament is in full swing in Hungary, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on a nationwide tour to make the case for Hungarians to vote for his brand of anti-war, anti-immigration politics

“Sending a pro-war MEP to Brussels is like throwing water into the Danube: It is possible, but unnecessary. There is enough of that there,” he said at a campaign stop in Tiszaladány.

Orbán further suggested that “instead of pro-war leftists who are bought by the kilo, let’s send pro-peace people to Brussels! Let’s show George Soros that there is no worse investment than a Hungarian pro-war politician.”

Orbán’s stance against mass immigration and war is particularly popular in Hungary, which may account for the historic popularity of his party and his ability to win absolute majorities in national elections. However, his stance is also becoming more popular throughout Europe, with polling showing that the vast majority of Europeans want an end to the war and mass immigration.

Most recently, Orbán visited the Hungarian cities of Szentendre, Pomaz, Solymar and Esztergom, which came on top of his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest — a visit that received considerable international coverage.

Currently, the ruling Fidesz party has 13 MEPs out of Hungary’s quota of 21. Orbán, who is the longest-serving European head of state currently still in power, is looking to maintain his large bloc of Fidesz MEPs and may potentially join an EU parliamentary group following the elections.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Hungary rejects ‘madness’ of NATO’s proposed €100-billion Ukraine war chest

RT | May 2, 2024

Budapest is opposing a potential €100-billion ($107 billion), five-year NATO plan to fund Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said. The draft plan on the military aid fund was presented to member states of the US-led bloc by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier this week, Szijjarto revealed.

The minister made the remarks on Thursday to Hungarian broadcaster M1 before heading for a ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in Paris.

“On Tuesday, the NATO member states received the secretary-general’s proposal to raise 100 billion that NATO plans to spend on the war,” the diplomat said, adding that since the money is to be collected over five years, this means NATO “expects the hostilities to continue for this period.”

Budapest will oppose the initiative and is not planning to participate in arming Kiev or training its soldiers, Szijjarto stressed. The draft plan was presented to the bloc’s member states in its “first reading” and is still subject to negotiations, the senior diplomat noted.

In the coming weeks during negotiations we will fight for Hungary’s right to stay away from this madness, from collecting these 100 billion and siphoning them out of Europe.

Budapest prioritizes the security of its own people before anything else and will do its best to “stay out of war,” Szijjarto explained, adding Hungary’s opinion remains that the conflict can only be resolved through negotiations. Nonetheless, Budapest acknowledges mounting global security issues and wants to be ready to face them, he said.

“We cannot ignore the threat of a new world war and the preparations for a nuclear war. This madness here in Europe must be stopped,” Szijjarto urged.

Hungary has consistently expressed its opposition to the ever-growing involvement of the US-led NATO bloc – and of the EU – in the Ukrainian conflict, refusing to send arms to prop up Kiev or to train its troops, and forbidding use of its territory to funnel such shipments from third countries.

Budapest has also publicly spoken out against the potential accession of Ukraine into NATO, which has long been one of the key goals of Ukrainian leadership.

May 2, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | 1 Comment

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