Orban made the statement in an op-ed published in Newsweek on Saturday as he addressed the latest Ukraine-related tendencies involving NATO, of which Hungary has been a member since 1999.
The Hungarian prime minister, who is an outspoken critic of Western involvement in the Ukraine conflict, said NATO has effectively made warmongering its raison d’être by jettisoning its original “peaceful” and “defensive” nature.
The Hungarian leader underlined Budapest’s active participation in multiple NATO operations and initiatives over the years, as well as its compliance with the bloc’s 2% defense spending target.
Orban said the NATO his country joined 25 years ago was a “peace project,” and a “military alliance for defense,” however, “today, instead of peace, the agenda is the pursuit of war; instead of defense, it is offense.”
Orban has repeatedly warned that escalatory steps by the US-led military bloc regarding Ukraine could eventually lead to a direct military confrontation with Russia, yielding catastrophic consequences.
“Ever more voices within NATO are making the case for the necessity—or even inevitability—of military confrontation with the world’s other geopolitical power centers,” the premier said in his op-ed, warning that the attitude “functions like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Stressing that several member states have recently entertained the possibility of launching a NATO operation in Ukraine, Orban said NATO “will be committing suicide” unless it changes tack regarding Ukraine.
In late February, French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out the deployment of French troops to Ukraine and has since doubled down on the controversial idea on multiple occasions despite criticism from Germany and other NATO member states.
In May, Estonia and neighboring Lithuania also signaled their readiness to send troops to Ukraine for logistical and other non-combat missions.
The Hungarian premier on Friday paid a surprise visit to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Orban’s office saying he was on a “peacekeeping mission,” and that the discussion between the two leaders centered on potential ways to peacefully resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Earlier in the week, the Hungarian prime minister arrived in Kiev, where he sat down with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, and voiced his support for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations with Moscow.
Following the visits, Orban acknowledged that Moscow’s and Kiev’s positions remain very “far apart,” but said, “We’ve already taken the most important step – establishing contact,” and vowed to continue the effort.
Since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, the Hungarian leader has made it clear that Russia’s advantage in resources and men makes the country unbeatable. He is the European Union’s most prominent critic of providing Ukraine with military aid.
The United States has provided more than $51.2 billion worth of weaponry for Ukraine since the conflict with Russia started in 2022, according to the Pentagon.
The Kremlin has repeatedly warned the endless flow of advanced arms to Ukraine will only prolong the war, adding that it would take retaliatory measures against the West if the weaponry is used on targets inside Russia.
No comments:
Post a Comment