Hungary's Orban at Baile Tusnad: The EU has a primitive policy towards Russia

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday at the Baile Tusnad Summer University, the central Romanian county of Harghita that, in his opinion, the European Union is pursuing a "primitive" policy towards Russia.

"My point is that the EU is conducting a primitive policy toward Russia, if I may say so, by claiming that Russia is a danger, because there are indeed member states in the EU who may rightfully feel threatened by Russia. We are talking about the Baltic countries, about Poland their history and geographical proximity confirm that - but most countries in the EU do not feel this threat: neither do the Slovaks, nor the Czechs, and there is no reason for us to believe that Russia would be a treat to us. It is very clear that the Baltic states, Poland and other countries would benefit from additional NATO and EU security guarantees to feel safe, but the remaining countries should benefit from developing relations with Russia. So instead of this primitive policy towards Russia, we should have a much more specialised policy, much better defined policy with Russia," Orban said according to the official translation.

In his opinion, it must be understood that Russia will continue to create buffer zones around it, this being the context in which Russian-American relations should be analysed.

"We will have to see what happens to the Russian-American relations, what the Americans do with these relations. We have to understand very clearly that Russia sees itself as a country that is not safe unless there are buffer zones around it. So, Russia will continue to create these buffer zones around the country. It is what happened to Ukraine, but the Ukrainians have clearly said that they do not want to be part of this buffer zone, they want to get closer to the EU and NATO and they want to build a modern Ukraine, I do not believe that Ukrainians' aspiration to be part of the EU or NATO is grounded in reality. It is very clear that the goal of the Russians is to restore the old status quo and to keep its influence in Ukraine. Given the context, we need to analyse a little the Russian-American relations," said Orban.

The Hungarian prime minister also mentioned the US and China, arguing that the United States would want to change the rules of international games in order not to give in to China.

"Processes and time are on the side of the Chinese people; Americans are obviously not going to stop, and they will continue their attempts, it is clear that they want to change the rules of international games in order not to give in to China. No one is able to tell whether the Americans manage to do that without an armed conflict, but it is clear that this intention exists, this will not to give up this fight with China. They want to eliminate the trade surplus favouring the EU against the US. That is what it's all about when looking at the battles between the US and the EU, over, for example, customs agreements or customs tariffs that the US wants to impose," Orban explained, according to the official translation.

He added that Europe's security also depends on stability in Turkey and Israel: "Our security here also depends on stability in Turkey and in Israel. If Turkey, for example, continues to be a stable country, then the migratory wave can be stopped (...) It is our interest that there is stability in the countries there to control the migration phenomenon, and that also applies to Israel. If stability is lost there, then there will be a huge threat from the Muslims of the region, so we are interested in having political stability and political leaders with a clear vision of these issues in the countries mentioned."

Orban once again advocated for the establishment of an EU armed forces, an idea that he put forth in previous years.

"It is very clear that, given the context, it is impossible for us to continue with our lives as we have done so far. We need stability, we need security. It is very good that we have NATO here, that we have support (...) but we can no longer continue this way. We need our own EU military force in addition to NATO. It is very good that we have NATO but the EU should develop its own armed forces. We have the funds, we have a political will to get that so the EU may have its own army," said Orban.

As in previous years, the Hungarian prime minister delivered a joint presentation with MEP Tokes Laszlo on the last day of the Baile Tusnad Summer University.