Hungary’s Orban says EU policy requires him to call Russia’s actions 'aggression'

He made these remarks in an interview with Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

“This is the official position of the European Union. I am loyal to it,” Orban said.

When asked whether he personally holds a different opinion, the Hungarian leader suggested leaving such assessments to historians.

“I am a politician, and we have an EU decision. It obliges me to speak about ‘Russian aggression,’” he added.

At the same time, Orban stated that “from the very beginning, it was clear that Ukraine’s victory was impossible unless we launched a total war.” In his view, diplomacy is now necessary, as without peace negotiations, Ukraine will “become the Afghanistan of the EU.”

“No one knows what is going on in Putin’s head. There is no point in speculating about it. But right now, we need diplomacy. Europeans consider it moral not to negotiate. That’s absurd! You have to do it in war! Otherwise, it will continue to the point of destruction, and Ukraine will become the Afghanistan of the European Union,” Orban said.

• On February 2, former U.S. State Department adviser and former director for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. National Security Council, Matthew Bryza, suggested that Viktor Orban refrained from blocking the EU’s new sanctions package against Russia due to Donald Trump’s recent statements about increasing pressure on the Kremlin through sanctions.