NATO Secretary General with the Prime Minister of Hungary 🇭🇺 Viktor Orbán, 12 JUN 2024

good morning distinguished ladies and gentlemen I’d like to cly welcome you here and I’d like to especially welcome his Excellency and stoltenberg Secretary General of NATO at this press conference under the opes of His official visit I’d like to welcome Victor Orban prime minister of Hungary the members of the delegations I’d like to ask first Victor Orban to deliver his statement I’d like to also cordially respectfully greet you all ladies and gentlemen I’d like to respectfully welcome greet the Secretary General of NATO our Secretary General who for wellknown reasons in Hungary is held in very high esteem I am pleased that uh during his term as Secretary General the cooperation between Hungary and NATO has become stronger the Secretary General has always been a forthright open uh to cooperation person in this sense we have reviewed the relationship between Hungary and NATO uh on our meeting today I uh recalled to the Secretary General that Hungary is a loyal and dedicated uh member of uh NATO currently there are 1,300 Hungarian soldiers involved in NATO operations 1,300 Hungarian soldiers we are one of those not very numerous countries among Nat members who are complying with all their responsibilities undertaken the commitments in terms of the defense spending our defense spending exceeds 2% of the GDP and the 20% uh development uh Target is also far exceeded by Hungary we are also involved in air policing uh for Slovakia and for Slovenia and from time to time in the Baltic and also we are the liazon embassy for nato in important uh Central Asian and African countries so these are the contributions that Hungary is offering to Nato to make it stronger these are the commitments Mr Secretary General that Hungary will continue to deliver on in the future the other important topic of our discussion was the Russian Ukrainian War it is well known here that hungary’s position is different from the majority of NATO member states when it comes to the question how we could come out and get to peace the shortest way possible the response by Hungary is different uh from others Hungary acknowledges acknowledges the fact uh that there are opinions uh in terms of weight and majority uh in NATO that are different from ours we have always been allowed to share our opinions to articulate our opinions we are grateful to the Secretary General for allowing this for allowing us to share our situational analysis but uh Hungary does not have the capability or the strength uh to actually change uh opinions that are far exceed uh in terms its weight and uh influence Hungary has made it clear that she does not intend to block any decisions in NATO that might be different from our uh we believe rational um situational analysis what we have concentrated on during today’s meeting and I have asked the Secretary General to make this clear that in for every military out of Opera area operations Hungary uh any any out of area operation can only be voluntary uh participation therefore Hungary has been granted the guarantees that she required especially in light of the fact that at the recent European parliamentary elections the most important decision to be made was war or peace and the Hungarian electorate uh reinforc the Mandate of the Hungarian government uh to uh uh not engage not participate uh in a war that is in an out of area operation for NATO I thank the Secretary General for this visit today uh I thank him for for the discussion and I thank him for the decisions that he has shared with us thank you very much and I now ask Yan Stenberg the Secretary General of n prime minister Urban there Victor it’s good to be back in Budapest and to meet with you today thank you for hosting me and my H delegation on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels later this week and uh let’s than a month uh ahead of our important Washington Summit with the heads of state and uh government uh in July Hungary has been a valued NATO Ally for 25 years you lead one of our multinational bat groups helping to deter aggression you host important military headquarters including our multinational Division Center you support stability in the western Balkans including with a significant contribution of troops deployed to Kosovo with our K4 peacekeeping Mission and since the beginning of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine Hungary has provided shelter to many thousands of Ukrainian refugees and helped with Rehabilitation of wounded soldiers all of this contributes to our shared security and I welcome your statement that you will remain a dedicated and loyal NATO Ally today the Prime Minister and I discussed a number of important and some uh difficult issues we also discussed the NATO Summit in Washington next month at the summit we will take decisions on key issues including deterrence and defense since 2014 we H NATO has undergone the most signif significant transformation in our Collective defense in a generation we have put in place the most comprehensive defense plans since uh the cold war with more forces more capabilities and more investment and we have deployed combat ready troops to the eastern part of the the alliance we do all of this not to provoke a conflict but to prevent a conflict NATO’s core task is not to wage war but to prevent War as we have done for 75 years by providing credible deterrence and strong Collective defense to ensure there is no room for miscalculation by Moscow or in any other potential adversary about our capacity and theol to protect every Ally for 75 years NATO has been the ultimate guaran of security for our members providing peace freedom and prosperity in the whole of Europe not least in the countries of the former wara act prime minister you and I also discussed the situation in Ukraine at the summit I expect allies will agree a leading role uh for nato in coordinating and providing security assistance and training for Ukraine I also expect allies will agree long-term Financial pledge to provide Military Support this will provide the predictability and accountability that Ukraine needs prime minister Orban has made it clear that Hungary will Hungary will not participate in these NATO efforts and I accept this position and I’m glad that today the Prime Minister and I have agreed to modalities for hungary’s nonparticipation in NATO support to Ukraine no Hungarian Personnel would take part in these activities and no Hungarian funds would be used to support them at the same time the Prime Minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose the his efforts enabling other allies to move forward and he has confirmed that Hungary will continue to meet all of its NATO commitments in full so prime minister Orban thank you again for your your hospitality I look forward to continuing working together with you and I’m looking forward to see you in Washington thank you Secretary General we have time for two short questions first it’s the Hungarian National Television thank you very much uh Hungarian Evening News prime minister I would like to ask you what is the guarantee that Hungary will not be forced or coerced by NATO into any undertaking in Ukraine there are two guarantees we have one is the Hungarian government and the other is of course the Secretary General of NATO who quite clearly elaborated that he does not have any uh intent to this end and the Hungarian government has a very clear stance on the Ukrainian Russian war we are not children uh it is not uh worth uh uh chasing Illusions this is a very very difficult political issue the whole invasion of Russia uh uh raises a lot of issues uh Glo in the global politics as well it is not easy in this situation to find the appropriate answers and there will always be there will always be times uh moments in time when decisions have to be made urgently when there’s a lot of decisions that need to be made and one of these times are just now the Secretary General has said especially because of the NATO Summit in in in these decisions uh we have been able to articulate uh the Hungarian position and to come to a fair agreement with the Secretary General but as I’ve said this difficult period has not come to an end uh once the NATO Summit is over there will be difficult moments when again there might be decisions difficult moments that might raise the issue of involvement in the war in that phase but those decisions will have to be made then so I can only undertake any guarantee that I’ve done at the election on Sunday when the decision comes when the moment comes I will represent a position that is Equitable for Hungary and I’ll will try to have that informed thankfully the the founding documents of NATO make it clear that for any out of area operations and participation therein can only be voluntary and this is a right that has been quite clearly guaranteed by the Secretary General repeated reiterated therefore Hungary to have a room for movement uh in the forthcoming difficult moments that might arise anyway now let us rejoice that this discussion today has uh concluded with an agreement Hungary has made it clear that um she does not want to and she is not able to change the decision of 31 other member states and I’m very happy that NATO has acknowledged through the person of the Secretary General that Hungary wants to fully Avail herself of the opportunity for a room for movement for consideration that is guaranteed by NATO and we were the we’ve been given the guarantee today that when it comes to the Russian Ukrainian War um when it comes to military out of area operation we do not have to participate in that that Hungary will not provide funds or Personnel for this war nor will the territory of Hungary be used for any involvement in this war so we have been granted everything that we have found necessary we have deemed necessary this was a difficult but I believe very constructive discussion with the Secretary General I’d like to thank him for this very correct agreement in the end writers I’m wui from writer news agency and I would like to ask Secretary General hungary’s foreign minister repeatedly called uh NATO’s Ukraine Mission I quote a crazy Mission how can you preserve the unity of the alliance when a member uses when a member chooses to use such words well in NATO we are 32 allies and sometimes there are different opinions but we have proven again and again that we are able to overcome them and uh find uh a common Way Forward uh and um on uh the increased NATO role in coordinating uh uh security assistance and training for Ukraine I am glad that we have uh found a way uh to um uh allow uh NATO allies to agree that but at the same time also accept the position that Hungary will not participate um it’s not a NATO obligation to participate in all NATO missions and operations or activities as long as all NATO allies adhere to the core obligations in the Washington treaty our Collective defense our security guarantees uh so uh what the Prime Minister and I have agreed today is that uh um hunger will not block uh uh all their allies to agree uh a pledge for uh financial support to Ukraine and a leading role for nato in coordinating support Ukraine uh but at the same time accept that Ukraine will not be a part of these activities and that’s a way uh which I think U will work uh and uh I am confident that when NATO leaders meet in Washington we will able then to finalize agreement on these issues Mr Secretary General prime minister thank you very much thank you very much for being here goodbye

Joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, 12 June 2024

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Prime Minister Orbán, Viktor, it’s good to be back in Budapest and to meet with you today.

Thank you for hosting me and my Delegation on the eve of a meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels later this week, and less than a month ahead of our important Washington Summit with the heads of state and government in July.

Hungary has been a valued NATO Ally for 25 years.

You lead one of our multinational battle groups helping to deter aggression. You host important military headquarters, including our Multinational Division Centre. You support stability in the Western Balkans, including with a significant contribution of troops deployed to Kosovo with our KFOR peacekeeping mission.

And since the beginning of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, Hungary has provided shelter to many thousands of Ukrainian refugees, and helped with rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.

All of this contributes to our shared security.

And I welcome your statement that you will remain a dedicated and loyal NATO Ally.

Today, the Prime Minister and I have discussed a number of important, and some difficult, issues.

We also discussed the NATO Summit in Washington next month.

At the Summit, we will take decisions on key issues including deterrence and defence. Since 2014, NATO has undergone the most significant transformation in our collective defence in a generation. We have put in place the most comprehensive defence plans since the Cold War, with more forces, more capabilities, and more investment. And we have deployed combat-ready troops to the eastern part of the Alliance.

We do all of this not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict.

NATO’s core task is not to wage war, but to prevent war, as we have done for 75 years by providing credible deterrence and strong collective defence to ensure there is no room for miscalculation by Moscow, or in any other potential adversary about our capacity, as us all, to protect every Ally.

For 75 years, NATO has been the ultimate guarantor of security for our members. Providing peace, freedom and prosperity in the whole of Europe, not least in the countries or the former Warsaw Pact.

Prime Minister, you and I also discussed the situation in Ukraine.

At the Summit, I expect Allies will agree a leading role for NATO in coordinating and providing security assistance and training for Ukraine. I also expect Allies will agree long-term financial pledge to provide military support. This will provide the predictability and accountability that Ukraine needs.

Prime Minister Orbán has made it clear that Hungary will not participate in these NATO efforts. And I accept this position.

And I’m glad that today the Prime Minister and I have agreed on modalities for Hungary’s non-participation in NATO’s support to Ukraine.

No Hungarian personnel will take part in these activities and no Hungarian funds will be used to support them.

At the same time, the Prime Minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose these efforts, enabling other Allies to move forward.

And he has confirmed that Hungary will continue to meet all of its NATO commitments in full.

So, Prime Minister Orbán, thank you again for your hospitality. I look forward to continue working together with you. And I’m looking forward to seeing you in Washington. Thank you.

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32 comments

  4. There is no logic in what Orban says. There is only one reason of his acts, that is to have the one party, one person ruling until the end of his life. In Europe he won’t be able to do it. So he wants to belong to the east, close to Putin, Xi, n Korea. Iran, Saudi Arabia. His dream is to be like Putin. He doesn’t care about a nation, the Ukrainians are suffering. He wants Ukraine being occupied by Russians.

  7. Air policing for Slovakia is , because Slovakia shipped all their Air force to Ukraine under the previous caretaker government.

  8. Russia is a real powerful country, and those NATO countries that have no brains will only ask for trouble…. The only way to settle the problem is through negotiations and sacrifices… 😊😊😊❤❤
    Orban is a smart Stateman who knows what the ground situation is, not like a bloody bull that only knows how to bulldoze the way… 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

  10. The need for peace is very important and negotiations are the first step. Are we looking for negotiations? Why defending Ukraine is that important, in particular if defending Ukraine means to defeat Russia!

  12. Viktor Orban is full of shit……he favors Putin and is his kissing buddy. Viktor Orban is not a loyal NATO member, he is a traitor !!!

  20. That gentleman lies in a day light.
    What does he means when he say NATO isn't to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict. These people (NATO) bombed former Yugoslav, Libya and many others. 7:28

  22. I can understand why a journalist at 14:00 asks how you can claim and say that the NATO alliance is united when, for example, Hungary and Turkey call the NATO countries' aid to Ukraine ill-conceived and bad, at the same time as they blackmail applicant countries and make big opposition to the expansion of the alliance so that it can become better and stronger. Turkey supports terrorists and Hungary supports Russia without hiding it.

  26. Others wont show too, and this is proof that Nato members dont matter, Hungary doesnt agree so they kind of kicking them out apparently

  28. It is a shame that Viktor Orbán finds it very easy to blackmail the EU. And when allies, even friends, are murdered and Hungary just looks on, then Hungary is certainly not an ally. Do we really need to explain this to NATO?

  29. Orban is very smart and wise politicians , he get written guarantee that Hungary don't have any obligation as Nato member to send money, soldiers or give Hungary territory for any Nato action in Ukraine

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