According to the European plan, the war can be won on the frontline; according to the Hungarian position, there is only a diplomatic solution

The essence of the European war plan is that the war can be won on the frontline. By contrast, the Hungarian plan is a diplomatic plan, according to which there is only a diplomatic solution to the war, and therefore, the parties should negotiate. This is what Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke about, talking to members of the press on Thursday, after the second day of the informal summit of the European Union in Copenhagen.

The Prime Minster highlighted that there was a European war plan on the table, the essence of which lay in that the war could be won on the frontline. Ukraine is able to defeat Russia, and to this end, European must make all means, weapons and money, available. While the Ukrainians are unable to take back their territories, they will stop the Russian where the frontline is today, and the Russian economy will be exhausted before the European.

This plan has two weak points: we do not know how long this process will be and how much it will cost Europe. Europe does not have enough economic strength, Europe would need money for developments and modernisation which it does not have. Meanwhile, "we're burning money" in Ukraine which only the Americans profit from because we are buying American weapons.

By contrast, the Hungarian plan is a peace plan, a diplomatic plan. We say that there is only a diplomatic solution to the war, and therefore, the parties should have talks. We have two options: either "we follow the talks as the Americans' little brother, or we engage in talks independently as European Union with the Russians." Hungary suggests option number two, Mr Orbán added, indicating that today this is a minority position.

In answer to the question of whether he had talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said there was no such plan. Preparations are ongoing, the foreign ministers are working on a high-level Ukrainian-Hungarian meeting, but preparations are not yet at a level where this meeting could be arranged at this point in time.

The Prime Minister said the goal of Ukraine is to push Europe and America into the war because on their own they are unable to win it. He indicated that he understood that the goal was to involve as many countries in the war as possible, but this was contrary to the best interests of the Hungarian people.

Mr Orbán was asked about his talks with the Croatian prime minister. The Prime Minister, who told the Patrióta channel in an interview earlier that he had had a major dispute with the Croatian prime minister because, according to Andrej Plenkovic, Hungary could buy oil via the Adria oil pipeline instead of from Russia, described their talks as "a de-escalation meeting."

He said "pulses have run high a little recently, as has our blood pressure, and this is not good." We are two amicable countries, we have always liked each other. Croatia has a special place in the Hungarian people's hearts. So, there are disputes, but these can be settled, and the conflict must not be escalated. "We have agreed to cool passions down."

He said a great many thoughts emerged during the talks, and these were more in the vein of spiritual preparations for the political decisions which will be made at the public plenary meeting of the prime ministers to be held at the end of October.

He added that the prime ministers of Member States were convinced that they were right, and they had a war plan about how to defeat Russia. Most of these countries were never under Russian occupation, they do not know physically what it is like when you are at war with Russia, he stressed.

He recalled that the Hungarians had been under Russian occupation for forty years, "so, we know precisely what this story is about." However, those people who have never been under Russian supervision have "a rather large appetite" for defeating the Russians on the front. We have developed a peace plan; however, the others have a war plan, the Prime Minister reiterated, observing that the positions of those intending to solve the situation with a peace plan and those supporting war are far apart.

He mentioned that according to some, pressure should be exerted on Hungary; "they want something, we don't," but we have a right to prevent this. The Hungarians do not want to be in a union with the Ukrainians; either in NATO, or in the European Union, he pointed out.

He said he agrees with the Hungarians who say that we should help Ukraine, we should conclude an agreement with them, we should give them what we can, but we should not under any circumstances tie our fate to the Ukrainians.

"Why should the fate of the Hungarians be tied to the Ukrainians who have lost a fifth of their territory, are at war, don't even know where their eastern borders lie and are in a continual state of danger which is not nice, it's not a pleasant thing," the Hungarian Prime Minister stressed. He added that tying the fate of the Hungarians to the Ukrainians with membership was "dangerous for us, this can only lead to trouble for us, on this we can only lose, this is not good."

In answer to a question, he argued that if integrated, the Ukrainians would bring the war into this alliance, meaning that if they join the EU, we ourselves could become parties to the war. He pointed out that in the event of Ukraine's accession, all the funds intended for the renewal of the economy of Europe would go to the Ukrainians.

In answer to another question, he repeated that Hungary did not want to go to war, did not want to send soldiers, weapons and money, and instead, wanted to agree with the Russians not only about Ukraine, but about creating a comprehensive European security structure.

"This is what we have a vested interest in, and here, there are some who want to win a war, but this is not our future, this is not our path, this is not our idea," he stated.

In answer to a question about frozen Russian assets, he said Hungary will not take part in any decision which is about taking other people's money away. "If the European Union decides that they want to take someone's money away, we will not take part in that, we will not take responsibility for this in the future," he observed.