’Ukraine is not anymore sovereign state’, says Hungary’s Orban

(17 Apr 2024) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Belgium - 17 April 2024 AUDIO AS INCOMING 1. Various of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arriving at conference 2. Various of Orban walking on stage, preparing to speak 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister: “The sense of this European election is - change the leadership. What is election for? The sense of election is that if the leadership proves to be bad, must be replaced. That is so simple. And this leadership of European Union is simply bad. It has failed. So it’s not just a political statement, it is very much factual.” 4. Orban on stage 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister: “I think that nations have the right to decide about their own future. So if somebody would like to make an attempt to create a mixed society, Christian-based with Muslim community, and as liberal thing that the outcome will be something good - let’s do it, it is your fate, your future, but don’t force us to do so. That’s what we called the offer of tolerance, what I have made several times to Brussels. I said, ’guys, you can create whatever migration system you would like to do, but don’t force Hungary to do the same thing, because we simply don’t believe.’ We think that mixture of two civilizations will not result in good things.” 6. Orban on stage 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister: “We respect (inaudible) rights of Ukraine, sovereignty of Ukraine, (inaudible) people to maintain their own state. So therefore the invasion of Putin against Ukraine is totally against values of international relations and all the values we respect, so no question of that. But the Hungarian point of interest is that something must be between Russia and Hungary, so this is the number one. So we support Ukraine to survive somehow, which is questioned, because Ukraine is not any more sovereign state. Ukraine is now just the protectorate of the West. So without getting the money and weapons from the European Union and United States, Ukraine as a state would cease to exist. So it is not a sovereign state anymore.” 8. Wide of conference 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister: “Hungary has always had good economic relations with Russia, so I would not like to give up that kind of cooperation. Because the war between Ukraine and Russia is not the war of Hungarians. It is the war of two Slavic nations, one big Slavic nation attacked another one. And they have a war. And we don’t behave like the Europeans who said - ’oh it is our war, because it is about values, it is about international order, whatsoever, so we are in the war, it is our war but not fully. Because we would not like to die. So, please Ukrainians die, we give the money, give the weapons and defend our values please. So it is not so much our war to go into, to take the lives, to fight there, but just to finance your (inaudible).’ So, I don’t like that approach at all.” 10. Wide of conference 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister: ”The reason of the war is very simple. It is called NATO membership. And just as a country who was occupied by the Russians for 45 years, I can say from personal experience that Russians will never allow to have membership of Ukraine as it is now in NATO. For the geopolitical thinking, it is impossible. They will always do everything to have something between the Russian border and NATO countries’ border. It could be called Ukraine, it could be war zone, whatever, but a buffer zone must exist between NATO and Ukraine.” 12. Wide of conference Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: #hungary #viktororban #ukraine You can license this story through AP Archive: