Orbán urges peace over weapons in Ukraine at NATO summit

The prime minister highlighted the Russia-Ukraine war as the most important topic on the agenda of the two-day NATO summit that began in Vilnius.

“The Hungarian position which we will be representing is unchanged: it is peace, rather than weapons, that should be delivered to Ukraine,” Orbán said, calling for a ceasefire and an urgent start to peace talks.

“The Hungarian position is clear, since the war is happening next door to us and because of the Hungarians living in Transcarpathia, tens of thousands of Hungarians are in direct danger,” he said.

Hungary wants NATO to stick to its earlier position, he said, arguing that NATO was a defence alliance. It was established to protect its member states, not to carry out military operations on other countries’ territories, Orbán said.

Hungary’s position is currently fully in line with that of NATO, as the alliance is not sending troops or weapons and is not training troops for combat, but is focused on bolstering the defence capabilities of its own members, he said.

“This is necessary, it is correct and Hungary will support this,” the prime minister said.