Excerpts from the speech of Prime Minister Viktor
Orbán delivered at the 4th meeting of the Hungarian Diaspora Council
20. November 2014, Budapest
…
One thing we
can say, perhaps I should start with this [is] that in the Eastern
neighbourhood of the EU, in Ukraine, there is a war-like situation, and this
results in a „cold peace” inside Europe.
…
I would like
to make clear for all of you that we consistently stand by the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of our Eastern neighbour. Not only because … there is
one single anchor for us, namely international law … and we cannot lose this
point of reference, and, consequently, we must stand by the Ukrainians, but
there is also an element of national interest in there, not only an abstract
respect for international law. [Averting a geopolitical situation in which
there is no independent and sustainable] Ukraine between Hungary and Russia …
is in the Hungarian national interest.
We do not deduce our interest from the American, or Russian, or even
Ukrainian position … and the Hungarian interest is clearly a sustainable,
sovereign and democratic Ukraine, that we hope can be home to the 200 thousand
strong Hungarian ethnic minority there. A Ukraine that confers those rights on
this community which can be expected from a country looking towards the West.
…
We need to
pose the question: “what is the Hungarian interest?” and not „whose side should
we take?” … Hence I suggest we remind ourselves that we are a member of NATO
and we fulfilled our duty always without hesitation. We went to Afghanistan,
which was not our war, but we went nevertheless because we decided that the US
was the subject of a terrorist attack and it must be followed by an appropriate
response.
… We went to
Iraq as well … outside the NATO framework, because the US, which is our friend,
asked that we take part in an international operation
…
Now things
are happening here, in Central Europe, and hence we expect all our allies to
represent the Hungarian position. Here, in Central Europe, is where we live,
this is our life, our fate … we ask all our allies to help the Hungarian
interest, just like we helped them in achieving their goals … For this we must
define precisely what is the Hungarian geopolitical interest here in Central
Europe [which] can be summed up in three words: peace, energy [security] and
trade
…
Let me now
say a few words on the situation within the EU … The [European] project seems
to have come to a halt. I quote [from the UK PM article the other day]: „six
years on from the financial crash that brought the world to its knees, red
warning lights are once again flashing on the dashboard of the global economy”
and „as I met world leaders at the G20 in Brisbane, the problems were plain to
see. The eurozone is teetering on the brink of a possible third recession, with
high unemployment, falling growth and the real risk of falling prices too.” So,
this is not a Hungarian assessment, which malicious commentators often describe
as EU-sceptic position. The HU position is not EU sceptic, but realist …
Certain things flow from this assessment. The first and most important, is that
we must reinforce our European institutions, because we won’t be able to avert
the coming wave of recession banging on our door without strong European
institutions. For that we need a strong Commission, and strong Commission
President. The debates around the President are well known. This is the time
when Hungary – irrespective of the fact that we did not support his election –
must make clear that we need a strong and operational Commission, which cannot
exists without a strong President. Juncker is our President, we must support
his work, because otherwise we all – Hungarian economy included – will suffer
serious losses