Statement by Viktor Orbán ahead of the NATO and EU summits in Brussels
23 March 2022, Budapest

There are only eleven days to go until the Hungarian parliamentary election, which is not only important for all of us, but also of historic significance. We can and must defend all that Hungary has succeeded in realising over the past twelve years. At such times every fibre in our bodies and every second of our time must be focused on the election. Yet now we must go to Brussels for two days, because there will be a NATO summit in Europe and a European Union summit; and we must defend Hungary’s interests in opposition to certain proposals which are on the agenda there. We must prevent ourselves from being dragged into a military conflict; we must reject proposals that would result in an air war with Russia. We must also block proposals which seek to respond to Russian aggression by extending sanctions to the energy sector, and which would thus put Hungary in a difficult – perhaps impossible – position. Election campaign or no election campaign, we must defend Hungary’s national interests, and over the next two days we must stand our ground in Brussels.