National petition relays message ‘we won’t pay the Ukrainians’

The national petition is about saying no to the war and the financing of the Ukrainian state, it's about the fact that we won't pay, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stressed in a video statement he posted on Facebook on Thursday.

"If we want Hungary to stay on the right course, if we want to protect the living standards of Hungarian families, then we must take this fight on. Not only the government, but the whole country must say no. And then, if we do things right, but only then, we can succeed. However, in order to succeed, we must first will it. The petition is about saying no. We won't pay," Mr Orbán said.

The Prime Minister took the view that things were becoming serious; now that the Ukrainians have "imposed an oil blockade on Hungary," this is even more so.

Additionally, yesterday, European leaders agreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to continue the war, he said, pointing out that this will take ever more money away from Europe for the functioning of the Ukrainian state and the funding of the war. The question is whether we should give them our money or not, he added.

"So far, I have always said no to this. It's a great help for me if I can refer to the clear Hungarian position that the Hungarian people - whom we consulted - say no to the financing of the war, don't want to pay for the functioning of the Ukrainian state, and won't accept their household energy bills being raised due to the war," Mr Orbán said.