EU bureaucrats ‘want war with Russia’ – Orban

The Hungarian PM has accused Brussels of making “bad political decisions” in terms of the conflict in Ukraine

The leadership of the EU is pushing the bloc towards the war with Russia, neglecting the interests of their own people, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

In an op-ed published in the Magyar Nemzet newspaper on Saturday, Orban warned that the EU is facing a series of crises, including economic challenges and the heightened threat of terrorism.

“To make matters worse, the Brussels bureaucracy that lives in a bubble has made a number of bad political decisions in recent years,” the prime minister argued. “Europe is increasingly being dragged into a war, in which it has nothing to gain and everything to lose.” 

“The bureaucrats in Brussels want this war. They see it as their own, and they want to defeat Russia. They keep sending the money of the European people to Ukraine. They have shot European companies in their feet with sanctions. They have driven up inflation and they have made

The Brussels bureaucrats want this war, they see it as their own, and they want to defeat Russia. They keep sending the money of the European people to Ukraine, they have shot European companies in the foot with sanctions, they have driven up inflation and they have made making a living difficult for millions of European citizens.

Orban also accused the EU leadership of “imposing their own ideologies” on the EU’s population, instead of “looking after the interests of the people.”

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The Hungarian leader made his comments shortly after the EU officially nominated Ursula von der Leyen to serve for a third term as the president of the European Commission. At the same time, Estonian Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas was nominated to replace Josep Borrell as the bloc’s top diplomat. Known for her hawkish position on foreign policy, Kallas has been one of the key champions of tougher sanctions on Russia and more weapons shipments to Ukraine. She is also an advocate of using frozen Russian assets for aid to Ukraine.

Orban, meanwhile, has been a consistent critic of the EU’s approach to the Ukraine conflict, favoring a diplomatic settlement through negotiations as opposed to more escalation.  Unlike many NATO members, Hungary has refused to send any weapons to Kiev and lobbied against unconditional financial assistance.

Orban previously claimed that the US and the EU were “the sources” of the “war madness” sweeping the continent and has accused Brussels of dangerous brinkmanship with Russia.