AFLOE Insights:
- Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán believes that only the re-election of Donald Trump can resolve the Ukraine crisis.
- Despite being a NATO member and U.S. ally, Orbán claims that Hungary is “worse treated than the Russians” by the Biden administration.
- Orbán criticized the multiple federal indictments against Trump as an abuse of U.S. state power, comparing it to Communist tactics.
- Orbán dismissed the idea that Ukraine could win the war against Russia, stating that the Russians are “far stronger, far more numerous.”
Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán Advocates for Trump’s Return to End Ukraine Conflict in Interview with Tucker Carlson
In a comprehensive discussion with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his belief that the re-election of Donald Trump is the sole solution to the ongoing Ukraine crisis. The conversation was shared on Wednesday on Carlson’s page on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
Orbán lauded Trump’s international policies and criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the Ukraine war. He asserted that Trump’s comeback would be the “only way out” of the situation, dismissing the idea that Ukraine could triumph over Russia as “a lie.”
“The Russians are far stronger, far more numerous than the Ukrainians,” Orbán stated. “Call back Trump. … Trump is the man who can save the Western world.”
The video interview, lasting half an hour, was recorded on August 21 on the luxurious patio of Orbán’s office in Budapest. This marks the second interaction between Carlson and Orbán in two years. During Carlson’s 2021 visit to Hungary, his Fox News show was broadcast from the capital for a week, where he commended Orbán’s “illiberal democracy”—a governance model that prioritizes conservative Christian principles over conventional liberal values—as a blueprint for the U.S.
Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, is widely criticized for his increasingly autocratic rule. Both the European Union and the U.S. State Department, along with various global watchdogs, accuse him of undermining minority rights, taking over the judiciary and media, and rigging the electoral system.
In the interview, however, Orbán criticized the multiple federal charges against Trump, including mishandling classified information and attempting to overturn the 2020 election, as an abuse of American state power. He argued that such actions were unimaginable in Hungary, likening them to Communist tactics.
Orbán also expressed his discontent with the Biden administration’s push for Hungary to enhance its rule-of-law and human rights, stating, “we are worse treated than the Russians. What’s that about?”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hungary has maintained its strong relationship with Moscow and has even threatened to veto EU sanctions against Russia. Orbán, known as Putin’s closest EU ally, has not only refused to allow Western arms to cross Hungary’s border with Ukraine but has also called for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, without outlining what that would mean for Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
