Interview Quotes

The Shifting Global Order

"I think this is a new age now. It started to change not in the last two or three years, it started far earlier. And I think now this new world order is under development. And if we call the previous period of the modern politics as the age of liberal something, now it's definitely over and something else is coming."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:01:12

"From the global liberal, we are moving to the local patriotic."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:01:49

Leadership and Decision-Making

"The question is whether he has started a war or a peace. It hasn't decided yet. Historians will make a decision on that."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:02:06

"But I'm a more cautious guy than the president is, especially because I had experiences with previous conflicts on this region. And the lesson I have got that you think it's easy to destroy the army of a country, but then it turned to be very difficult to consolidate the power."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:02:46

"My understanding of the leadership capacity of the West is rather bad. So that kind of attitude, what we have, an old elite, academic-based, intellectually-based, ideologically biased, routine, trust, more trust in institutions than the capacity of a leader, you know? That's paralyzed the whole Western world."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:03:56

"So when troubles are coming, we need leaders, not institutions. Somebody who is strong enough, brave enough, and ready to take the responsibility of the decision. We don't have enough that kind of leaders at this moment in Europe."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:06:30

Migration and National Identity

"Yes, I do. I think now we have two difficulties approaching us from that conflict. One is migration, exactly as you have elaborated. And the other one is energy and the impact of this war on the energy supply and the price of the energy."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:07:21

"So we stopped them. No migration and no migrants in Hungary. So the number of migrants in Hungary today is zero. I'm very proud of it anyway."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:08:44

"Determination. So if you decide that you stop them, stop them. So it's sometimes it's not the nicest job. But if you decide that this is our borderline and nobody can cross it without our permission, you have to keep the line and you have to do so."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:10:35

"The second is, which is a more pragmatic approach, you know, it's a 10 million country. We lost our territories as an outcome in the First World War. No energy sources, no raw materials, you know, so we were sentenced to death, but we survived. So what we need is labor, and products created by labor, we need markets. And European Union means market."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:13:33

"So we Hungarians simply think that we are a Christian country. We would like to maintain our identity, and we would not like to mix up our civilization, pattern and fabric with something else."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:16:18

"I think that each nation, each nation has the right to decide how to develop into the future. So if the British think so that they love it, let's do it. The only thing what I am insisting, that there is a right of the Hungarians to define how we would like to continue our history, and with whom we would like to live with."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:17:06

"Well, democracy is a good thing. So how I survived that stormy discussion with the European leaders, who definitely not just opposed, but tried to crash me down because of our position on migration. I turned to the people and I said, migration is the issue. It's not an issue of the political elite. It's about the future of Hungary, your kids, your grandkids. So why we don't have a common decision on that. Let's discuss it. And we had a referendum."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:18:31

The War in Ukraine

"This is not our war. It's a war, a brother, war of brothers of two nations, two Slavic nations, Russians and Ukrainians. I'm Hungarian. We have nothing to do with it. It's their wars, not ours."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:20:13

"The question is why we decided, I mean Westerners, Hungary was not involved in Western communities, decided to change the status of Ukraine. Because the political status of Ukraine for two decades was a buffer zone country. Then we started to accept that they would like to join NATO and European Union."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:21:10

"So we should concentrate on stopping the war, because the war is going on. No solution on the front line. Christians are dying every day, thousands of the Christians and 400,000 victims in a year. And brutal, you know. Slavs when they are fighting against each other tend to be very brutal."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:22:46

"We don't feel at all that we have any moral or political duty to the Ukrainians. What we had, we fulfilled. Because when the war has started, we let all the Ukrainians who escaped from Ukraine to the West to come to Hungary. We provided shelter, food, labor."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:23:44

"The point is that we think that the Russians should not be pushed out first from the European security system, should not be pushed out from the European energy system and should not be pushed out from the trade system of Europe."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:24:39

"First of all, I share the point that we have to re-arm ourselves. No question of that, because Europe is too weak and not able to defend itself."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:26:37

"Ukraine is not a solution. Ukraine is a problem. Ukraine makes us weaker and not stronger. If we would like to be stronger, we have to concentrate on ourselves, not on Ukraine. Ukraine is just secondary issue for us."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:28:28

"The Russians understand the language of strengths. So if we would like to be treated properly by the Russians, and we would like to have positions to the Russians, we have to be very, very strong. But Ukraine makes us weaker, not stronger. That's my problem."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:29:33

"If the goal is to strike and to beat and crush down the Russians, I disagree. If the target is to create a new security system which is safe enough for Boris Johnson and for the Hungarians at the same time, yes, we can agree."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:30:30

"In Hungary, his reputation is not very high. And the reason is that he has a request or demands, which is very much against the interest of the Hungarians."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:31:54

"Definitely. That was always the case. Okay. Let's go back. 1990, the communist regime collapsed. Versa pact over. Hungary was not a member of NATO for eight years or nine years. So nine years, Hungary was also a buffer zone. It's not good. So I know what is it."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:34:10

Hungarian Society and Governance

"Each allegation has an impact, of course. But the fact is that in Hungary we have the very standard West European practices in all these issues. I hope we are a little bit better than the others, but definitely not worse. So it's a normal West European country."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:37:20

"When I came back to power 2010, the Hungarian media, which was the press, radios, TV channels, commercial TV channels, 80% was owned by Germans. That's pretty too much anyway. So I said, guys, this is not good for the country. Let's find a more balanced situation."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:39:06

"We have to be aware that it's a constant danger. It's a 10 million country, I mean by inhabitants. Bigger countries can live with that modern phenomena more easily than we do. So we have to take it seriously."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:41:01

"Peace March is always about the national dignity. So that's what you have seen anyway. Yes, of course, to be in power for 16 years, or altogether 20, could be boring. The question is not that. And I'm not younger than I was, so it's less attractive, definitely. But the question is what kind of dilemma we have ahead of us. And I think now we are living in a very dangerous period of the European politics. And the basic value what we need is security."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:45:29

"So first of all, the birth rate, as you have said. That's important. There is no kid. There is no future. That's so simple. So we need kids. But you know, this modern lifestyle of the European people is not very much in favor of having a high number of kids and raise them, unfortunately."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:49:55

"I think finally, we will win that battle. And I think the young generation will come back to the pattern of our grandparents. And we will have again, basically, strong and big families in Hungary. country. And we will have no need to have any kind of extra people coming from migration."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:51:24

Christian Civilization and National Identity

"Europe, we had a wonderful Christian Europe for long, long, long centuries. And then the modern ages arrived and everybody was questioned. And as an outcome of this new development, two traditions in the modern politics developed into our society."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:52:29

"So now the Christian roots are dying out in the European politics. So at the same time, to be believer or not is a private issue. So nobody can be forced to follow any kind of religious teaching. But the point is that Christianity beyond the personal contact and relation to the God is basically a complex system of teachings about what is good and what is bad."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:53:45

"And I think that kind of teachings we need, even those who are not able or not willing to find a way, the personal way and relation to the God. So regardless whether you are a believer or not, the set of Christian teachings is a good way to organize our societies. That's what I believe."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:54:10

"In Hungary, if you are speaking on Christianity as a political culture and a set of teachings, it's a little bit easier than in your country, I suppose. Because in Hungary, it's obvious that without Christianity, the nation would not have been able to survive the last difficult centuries."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:55:36

"Culture is always the first. National identity is the first. And then, we have to find the political system which provides the most possible freedom for everybody."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:57:34

Reflections and Future

"Politically speaking, because you know, what I can regret is that politics has eaten up too much of my personal life and time. So I spend less hours and weeks and months with my kids and grandkids than they would deserve and than I would have loved. So that's the basic thing."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:58:52

"The biggest one is that we are still a Christian country. And you know, in Europe now we are living in a liberal ocean and Hungary is still a country of difference, an island of difference, a conservative and Christian country, even if that kind of liberal ocean is getting stronger and stronger surrounding us."

— Viktor Orbán • 00:59:49

"One is your way, Brexit. The other one, go in, occupy Brussels and change them. That's what I'm working on."

— Viktor Orbán • 01:00:40