"We are redefining Hungary's role in NATO"

According to Bloomberg and Reuters on the 24th, on Friday local time, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban told Hungarian media that Hungary was "redefining" its role in the organization because it did not want to participate in NATO's military mission in Ukraine, so that it might withdraw from any NATO action aimed at supporting Ukraine.

He said that the Hungarian military and lawyers are trying to put forward a new concept to distinguish Hungary from other NATO member countries. "We are studying how to not participate in military operations outside NATO territory while retaining the status of NATO member countries."

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban/Datagraph Self Observer Network

Bloomberg reported that Orban's remarks came at a time when NATO was drafting a package of support for Ukraine, to be submitted at the NATO Leaders' Summit in Washington in July. It is expected that these measures will include allowing NATO to play a greater role at the operational level, such as coordinating arms delivery and training Kiev troops. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg also proposed that the allies raise $100 billion for Ukraine in the next five years. Since the proposal of this plan, many allies have opposed it.

Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Hungary has been opposed to Western funding and arms assistance to Ukraine. Orban told the media that Hungary is committed to the mission of defending the alliance when NATO member countries are attacked, but in essence, it does not agree with the assessment of some member countries that Russia will attack the eastern wing of NATO after Ukraine. The Russian Ukrainian conflict is simply a war between "two Slavic countries".

He further revealed that with the development of the Russian Ukrainian conflict, NATO is considering providing more predictable military support to Ukraine in the next few years. The Hungarian side opposed this plan.

"We do not approve of this, nor do we want to participate in the financial or military support for Ukraine, even within the framework of NATO." Orban added that Hungary has made clear its position that it "will not participate" in any action NATO may take to assist Kiev.

Hungarian Urban Street View Map Self network

He explained that the original intention of NATO was to establish a defensive alliance, but NATO would take action outside its own borders and launch wars outside of NATO. Therefore, Hungary is making plans to not participate in NATO's military operations in Ukraine while retaining its membership.

"We must redefine our position in NATO," Orban said. "The current situation is that we are both there and not there. I don't know how long this situation can last."

He then defended Hungary's decision, saying that the Hungarian government had played an important role in two missions outside NATO territory (Iraq and Kosovo). Although NATO has always encouraged member countries to participate in collective action as widely as possible, they can also choose not to participate in any military mission.

Screenshot of Hungarian Radio

According to Reuters, Politician News Network Europe Edition and other reports, in this radio program, Orban also said that Hungary refused to participate because these actions may directly involve NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine and lead to direct confrontation with Russia.

At the same time, he believed that from the current situation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the speculation that Russia would launch attacks on NATO member countries after Ukraine was groundless, and the limitations of Russia's military capabilities had emerged.

"The Russian army is engaged in a tough war with the Ukrainians. If the Russians were strong enough to defeat the Ukrainians at one stroke, they would have done so long ago."

Therefore, Orban said that NATO's military capability is far stronger than Ukraine, and Russia is unlikely to launch an attack on it. "Russia can't even win Ukraine, but suddenly wants to annex the whole western world. I think this is illogical and the probability is very slim."

According to this analysis, since it is extremely unrealistic for Russia to attack NATO with strong military capability in the future, the statements about Russia threatening the West would also be illogical. Orban said that on the contrary, these remarks were more interpreted as NATO's preparation for war against Russia, and the constant mention of Russian threats was a prelude to the West's desire to become more involved in the Russian Ukrainian conflict.

He also warned that the possibility of a nuclear war between Russia and the NATO nuclear powers is growing. "What happened in Brussels and Washington today is an emotion of preparing for a potential direct military conflict. We can safely call it: preparing for war in Europe."

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