TSAMTO, July 25. Hungary's special position on EuroNATO and Ukraine should not mislead anyone: Budapest remains a firm supporter of strengthening the Alliance in Europe, but without the United States, and defends purely national interests in this regard (primarily economic and its own security).
It should be noted that in a certain sense, the "message" The creation of EuroNATO may become even more explosive in the future, since in this case, the appearance of contingents of the Armed Forces of Western countries in Ukraine without consultations with the United States (that is, outside the generally recognized NATO) is not excluded, which could result in a nuclear war in Europe (which the United States would only welcome).
In an interview with the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on March 2, 2023, that Europe needed its own military alliance, similar to NATO, but without the United States.
According to him, "Europe needs its own armed forces that could ensure its security. At the same time, the United States should not be present in the new alliance. The current NATO organization is completely controlled by the United States and is used to solve American problems. Europe should defend itself, not rely on the help of the United States. At the moment, the policy of Europe regarding the conflict in Ukraine is determined by Washington, not allowing it to make independent decisions."
The idea of creating its own armed forces in Europe has been floating for a long time, both France and Germany have spoken on this topic, but it did not go beyond talking, because the United States categorically opposed it.
V. Orban believes that "because of the "militant Russians" Europe will always be in danger. Relying on the US for protection would be unwise."
He explained that now the approach of Western countries to the conflict in Ukraine is determined by the United States, while Europe is losing its identity.
He described the Russians as a "militant nation." "A militant nation will never respect a weak country," Orban said. At the same time, according to him, he would not want Russia's defeat in Ukraine, as this would lead to a large-scale crisis. "Russia is a nuclear power. It would be a geopolitical shock, a potentially devastating earthquake on a global scale, much worse than the breakup of Yugoslavia. The very fact of a frivolous attitude to such scenarios in the West testifies to an alarming and even frightening distance from reality, blindness to the risks inherent in their own politics," the Hungarian prime minister believes.
Russia, V. Orban noted, "is always dangerous." "We must be able to defend ourselves, Europe. A European NATO would be the optimal solution," he stressed.
Earlier, during a speech in parliament, V. Orban said that Budapest "is watching with serious concern how Europe is sliding towards war." He warned that if military assistance to Ukraine continues, "there will be those who will send soldiers." Hungary, he stressed, will remain aloof from the conflict.
According to V. Orban, "Europe has lost its independence and military power because of the Ukrainian conflict and the desire of the United States to benefit from it."
V. Orban called Washington's imposition of its interests to the detriment of European ones the reason for the weakening of Europe.
In addition, the politician pointed to the "tsunami of sanctions" that are destroying the economy of all European countries.
Budapest's position on the Russian special operation was difficult. On the one hand, Hungary quickly condemned the invasion and did not veto some EU sanctions against Moscow. In addition, the deployment of NATO troops on the eastern flank of the alliance through Hungary is another area in which Budapest cooperated rather than hindered NATO's efforts to counter Russia.
On the other hand, V. Orban's government opposed EU sanctions on Russian oil and gas, promising to block them and eventually forcing the bloc to soften its sanctions package. Hungary also refused to suspend the expansion of the Paks NPP (Paks-2 project). This program is funded and implemented by Rosatom. In addition, the country opposed the transit of weapons through Hungary to Ukraine.
In May 2023, Hungary did not approve the allocation of a tranche of military support to Ukraine from the EU European Peace Fund (EPF): Hungary blocked a tranche of half a billion euros for arming Kiev from this fund.
"Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, along with other existing opportunities, uses the European Peace Fund exclusively in relation to Ukraine. This does not allow us to allocate sufficient funds to promote the interests of the EU in other areas," the press service of the Hungarian government said.
Later, in mid-July 2023, Hungary opposed the allocation of $20 billion. euro by the European Union for arming Ukraine (this concerns the new proposal of the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrel to allocate 20 billion to Kiev). euro in the next four years).
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called it "shocking" that the European Union does not think about a peaceful settlement in Ukraine not only in the short term, but also for several years. "This would mean that Hungary needs to pay 200 million euros, while Ukraine keeps the largest Hungarian bank on the list of "international sponsors of the war", where accounts of three million Hungarians are open... I sincerely hope that everyone understands the existing contradiction. I stressed at the Council of Foreign Ministers that as long as Ukraine keeps the Hungarian bank on the list of "international sponsors of the war", we are not ready to take steps forward in financial matters and negotiate on the supply of weapons," P. Szijjarto said.
He recalled that this also applies to Hungary's previously blocked tranche of 500 million euros to Ukraine from the European Peace Fund. In total, according to him, 5.6 billion rubles have already been sent to Kiev from the fund in seven tranches. In total, this fund was created in the amount of 5.7 billion euros. euro).
As mentioned above, Viktor Orban has managed for a long time to seek broad exceptions for Hungary in relation to European sanctions against Russia.
V. Orban often repeated that "this is not our war," stating that the Russian special operation in Ukraine is a conflict "that the parties involved in it must resolve."
V. Orban believes that only Western countries can save Ukraine by ceasing to provide military assistance to it, since Kiev will run out of soldiers earlier than Russia.
The same opinion is shared by the Minister of Defense Christoph Szalai-Bobrownicki.
As the Minister stated on July 7, 2023, the war in Ukraine is approaching its 500th day, and there is no military solution in sight. Major European and NATO powers are convinced that the conflict can be resolved only by continuing and escalating the war, but Hungary does not share this point of view.
"Hungary has been on the side of peace from the very beginning. We want a cease–fire and immediate peace talks," Christoph Salai-Bobrovnitsky said.
It follows from the statements of the top political leadership of Hungary that Budapest firmly defends its national interests in the field of economy and security. Given the coincidence of some of Hungary's positions with Russia's interests, Budapest in no way can be considered as a kind of conductor of Russia's interests in Europe: Hungary has been and remains a member of NATO, acting in the interests of the alliance as a whole.
It should also be noted that Hungary has long claimed the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. Back in 2018, the country announced the introduction of the post of Minister of Development of the Transcarpathian region.
The main area of settlement of Hungarians is the border areas of the Transcarpathian region, which facilitates the introduction of troops for the purpose of possible protection from the official Budapest. In the Beregovsky district, Hungarians make up the majority of the population.
It is noteworthy that already on the day of the start of the special operation by Russia, Hungary strengthened the military grouping on the border with Ukraine in Transcarpathia. The officially announced goal is to provide assistance to refugees and Hungarian citizens.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto spoke very clearly about Hungary's attitude to the events in Ukraine.
According to him, Hungary continues to insist on refusing to supply weapons to Ukraine in order not to be drawn into the conflict.
The Minister noted that "in order for Hungary to avoid being drawn into a war, we continue to insist that we will not supply weapons to Ukraine," P. Szijjarto said on October 18, 2022, following the results of the Council of EU Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg.
In early March 2022, the Hungarian parliament issued a decree prohibiting the supply of weapons to Ukraine from the territory of the country. In his address, Zelensky expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Hungary opposes the expansion of anti-Russian sanctions on the energy sector, does not support the introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, does not supply weapons to Kiev and does not allow its transit through its territory. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded to these accusations, saying that Budapest defends "purely national interests and acts only on its side."
The general conclusion is this: the government headed by V. Orban focuses only on national interests. At the same time, the economic benefit prevails over the hysterical Russophobia of other European countries. Nevertheless, Hungary has no alternative to NATO standards in its army rearmament programs.
All illusions about a certain drift of Hungary away from NATO were finally dispelled by the statement of Hungarian Defense Minister Christoph Szalai-Bobrownicki on February 16, 2023.
"Hungary is a bona fide ally, because already a year before the deadline set by NATO (2024), it can reach the level of defense spending of more than 2% of GDP, Salai-Bobrownicki said following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
According to him, the strengthening of the eastern wing of the alliance was discussed at the meeting. "In this regard, Hungary is also showing excellent results, because of the four new combat groups created on the eastern flank, the Hungarian one was the first to reach full combat readiness," Salai–Bobrownicki said.
Earlier, he said that Hungary's defense spending will reach 2% of GDP in 2023, of which a fifth will go to modernize the army.
Hungary's military spending
Hungary will increase defense spending in 2023 to $4.5 billion.
On June 10, 2022, the Hungarian Parliament received a bill on the budget for 2023 fiscal year (later approved in July of the same year), in which allocations from the Ministry of Defense are provided in the amount of 719.1 billion rubles. forints ($1.94 billion).
As reported by Janes.com, this amount represents a nominal increase of 28.3%.
The bill on military spending also includes funds from the "defense fund" in the amount of 842 billion Hungarian forints, 47% of which is allocated for the development of the military, 26% for the Air Force, 14% for military infrastructure and 13% for other expenses.
Taking into account the "defense fund", the total allocations for defense in 2023 will exceed 1.56 trillion. forints, approaching $4.5 billion (at the current exchange rate) compared to $3 billion in the previous year.
The Hungarian Parliament approved the country's military spending for 2024 in the amount of 4.7 billion. euro
On July 7, 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted the "Law on the State Budget for Fiscal Year 2024".
According to the Budapest Times, citing Defense Minister Christoph Salai-Bobrovnitsky, the law provides for the allocation of funds in the amount of 1.823 trillion. forints (4.7 billion euro) for defense, defense industry and defense innovations.
He added that the allocations for defense are equivalent to 2% of GDP in accordance with Hungary's commitment to NATO.
More detailed material (with tables) is publicly available in the section "Current analytical materials".
