We’re playing for victory

We're playing for victory, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said - talking to the public service media on the way to Washington - in answer to the question of what would happen if US President Donald Trump refused to grant the Hungarian government exemption from the sanctions imposed on Russian oil.

All diplomatic talks are difficult, but I expect an amicable and easy negotiation, the Prime Minister said in answer to the question of whether he expects tough talks in Washington in relation to the issue of Hungarian exemption from the US sanctions imposed on Russian oil.

Mr Orbán described the affair as a serious matter, stressing that what is at stake is whether Hungary will succeed in making the Americans accept the simple geographical fact that Hungary must be treated differently from the viewpoint of the sanctions than other countries because it has no sea access.

If they accept this, then 90 per cent of the Hungarian economy and Hungarian households will be saved. If they do not, then difficult times will await both the economy and families, he pointed out.

He said the stakes are high, but the negotiations will not be difficult because "I know the President, he knows me, we are familiar with the issue, we must just quite simply reach an agreement."

In answer to the question of whether this issue continues to remain an open matter, the Prime Minister said the US President is a businessman, and makes every decision at the right moment. "It doesn't matter what happened before and what will happen after, the only thing that matters is what we will shake hands on when the agreement is reached," he added.

In response to the suggestion that the Hungarian government might be required to make a serious offer in exchange for being granted exemption from the sanctions, including the supply of fuel to Paks by the US firm Westinghouse, the Prime Minister said they have a proposal negotiated effectively to a near-agreement stage about how to increase the magnitude of US-Hungarian business cooperation, including in key sectors, one of which is energy.

The Prime Minister classified the issues to be negotiated and discussed into two main groups. He said "there are problems which must be addressed," including the US sanctions on Russian energy, and there are opportunities which must be explored. He added that Westinghouse and nuclear cooperation were not in the problem package, but in the opportunity package. It is not a problem, not a means to solve a problem, but a major opportunity for Hungary.

He also said he last spoke to the Russian President on the telephone when an agreement was reached that a US-Russia peace summit would be held in Budapest. "Since then, the need has not arisen. If it does, then I will naturally speak to him," he stressed. "This doesn't cause me any political or personal problem, I'm not in the trapped situation that western leaders are finding themselves in who have messed up relations with the Russians in the past 3 years and are unable to negotiate. Hungary is in a favourable - let's put it this way - flexible position," he said.

Mr Orbán laid down that a Russian-US summit would be held in Hungary. There are important issues under negotiation on which no agreement has been reached yet, but talks are ongoing, he indicated.