We do not have to wait for anyone, taking care of the refugees is our duty, Mr Orbán pointed out on the programme.
He added that if we waited for Brussels, a serious situation would develop at the border.
He took the view that when it comes to talking, we can always rely on Brussels, but when it comes to taking action, then we can only rely on the nation states.
“I’m at a loss as to tell you what exactly they’re doing in Brussels, what they’re waiting for, and when they will give money to anybody,” Mr Orbán said, adding that “this is our business, this is our trouble, this is our problem, we must solve it, and Hungary will solve it”.
He observed that if in the meantime Brussels “deigned to wake up” and provide money, then for that we will be grateful. At the same time, he said, Hungary has protected the border in the South for years, but Brussels has not given us “a penny” for the fence.
The Prime Minister said 70 to 80 per cent of those coming here are travelling on, but the future of those who are staying must be organised, including accommodation, food, health care, access to work, and in a few months’ time, the education of their children.
He stressed that everyone whom Hungary takes in will be treated the same as Hungarians, similar to the Hungarian unemployed, they will receive benefits for three months, but after three months Hungarians, too, must find a job either in public works schemes or on the market, and this will equally apply to the foreigners coming here. Those who are staying here must occupy their places in our lives somehow, he said.
Regarding the fact that so far 140,000 people have arrived in Hungary via border crossing stations, the Prime Minister said even more people will be arriving because what we are observing now is only the beginning of this crisis. He drew attention to the fact that if Transcarpathia were to become a military zone, then the number of those coming to Hungary would suddenly multiply. He said third-country nationals, including students from China, Nigeria and India, are being transported to Budapest, and they are returning to their own countries by plane.
The Prime Minister also said NATO will only defend us if we, too, are ready to defend ourselves.
He highlighted that if a country wants peace, it must have strength of some kind, and that strength can come from two sources: its own strength and that of its allies.
However, “if you don’t have strength of your own, then neither will you have allies because no one will risk their lives and sacrifice their money in order to protect you whilst you yourself are not prepared for protecting yourself,” Mr Orbán said.
This is why Hungary had to start a defence forces development programme a few years ago, he continued. There was a debate about this, too, but “on this we must be absolutely firm” because if a country fails to prepare for such a conflict in good time, you cannot make up for the lost years later. A defence industry development programme takes “many long years,” the Prime Minister added.
He said “our security is rock solid,” Hungary cannot come to any harm, we are strong enough to guarantee the security of Hungary together with our allies. He added that a problem could only arise “if we lose our judgement and allow ourselves to be dragged into this war” because “there is no NATO that could protect us from our own stupidity, our own foolishness”.
The Prime Minister took view that the Hungarian Left “are pro-war” and therefore we must firmly reject their proposals that could drag Hungary into the war. He said sending soldiers means that we would be a part of a war, while sending weapons means that the people against whom those weapons are used would become our enemies “for God only knows how many long years”. At the same time, transporting arms through the territory of Hungary and turning the transiting convoy into a target in a place in Transcarpathia where there is no war yet means that we would take it there, “we would provoke” the emergence of the war there.
He confirmed that in such a troubled situation we need strategic calm, “we must keep our wits about ourselves,” we must not say anything without thinking twice and “do our Western friends a favour” with one statement or another. He pointed out that this conflict must be observed not through American, French or German spectacles, but through Hungarian ones because the peace and security of the Hungarian people are the number one priority.
Mr Orbán condemned the left-wing statement – describing it as an act “amounting to a denunciation in times of war” – asserting that Hungarians in Transcarpathia are pro-Russian because this could pose a direct threat to the Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
He said while the election campaign is under way, the government “set the direction” that rather than the campaign, national interests and the security of the Hungarian people must be the number one consideration at all times.
Regarding the sanctions against Russia, he said those suffer the most who are close to the war zone, primarily the Baltic States, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. They are seeking to alleviate the direct losses caused by the sanctions such as the bankruptcy of Sberbank, the rise in energy prices and increasing inflation, but the medium-term threat that the performance of the European economy will fall short of the expected level must also be managed. The longer the war drags on, the bigger a problem we must cope with; this is why it is right for Hungary to remain pro-peace, he highlighted.
Concerning the coronavirus pandemic, the Prime Minister said we have conquered the fifth wave, the situation is promising. At the same time, while we cannot rule out that this was the last wave, experts are continuously scanning the horizon for a sixth one.