Hungary’s Premier Defends Trump Actions; Promises Talks With Ukrainian Leader

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has condemned Colorado’s recent decision to remove former U.S. President Donald J. Trump from their ballot before the 2024 presidential elections.

Speaking at his annual press conference in Budapest, he claimed that “evil is gnawing at Western democracies” and that “We see strange things today, let’s say, in the democratic Western world.”

Orbán, a nationalist leader whose own democratic credentials have been questioned by the current Biden administration and European Union, lashed out at Colorado and Washington. “We have to be attentive because there is a large Western democracy where, if I understand correctly, they want to block a presidential candidate by placing legal obstacles in his path,” Orbán said, referring to his ally Trump.

Last week, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for president under a U.S. Constitution clause that bars candidates who engage in insurrection.

The Colorado court said Trump’s actions during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, amounted to “insurrection” as he allegedly incited violence against the declared results of the 2020 vote that saw Joe Biden becoming president.

Trump and his campaign criticized the 4-3 decision, calling it “deeply flawed,” and vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Orbán, arguably Europe’s most vocal Trump ally, also said he accepted an invitation from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenksyy to hold a bilateral meeting in the future. Like Trump, Orbán wants the Ukraine-Russia war to end.

MEETING ZELENSKY

He said he agreed to Zelenskyy’s proposal for a future meeting during a brief conversation between the two leaders on the sidelines of a December 10 swearing-in ceremony for Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei.

“Zelenskyy said, ‘We should negotiate,’ and I told him I’d be at his disposal. We just have to clarify one question: about what?” Orbán said, adding that the Ukrainian leader sought talks on Kyiv’s ambitions to join the European Union.

Relations between the two leaders have been tense as Hungary repeatedly blocked EU efforts to provide financial aid to Ukraine and refused to give its neighbor arms support.

Orbán also opposed Ukraine embarking on the EU membership path and is one of the only EU leaders not to have made an official trip to Kyiv as Ukraine fights against Russia’s invasion.

Last week, Orbán prevented the adoption of a 50-billion euro ($54.7 billion) EU aid package to Kyiv, the only leader in the 27-member bloc to oppose the funding.

The EU requires unanimity among its members, giving the Hungarian leader tremendous leverage. However, he confirmed that he had left the room on the German chancellor’s advice when a vote was held.

That allowed his counterparts to approve beginning accession talks with Ukraine. He said his aim wasn’t to be against something but to reform Brussels, which he hopes to achieve with political allies following the upcoming European elections. Hungary will also take over the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2024.

LIFE AND DEATH

Life and death issues are also expected to leave their mark on the political debate in Hungary ahead of the elections: Orbán, 60, said he watched with interest and prayers the landmark trial of the terminally ill lawyer Dániel Karsai, who seeks the right to euthanasia, which is forbidden in Hungary.

And under Hungarian legislation, even doctors involved in the procedure outside the country could be prosecuted.

He took his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, saying he wanted to ensure that others would be able to die in a dignified way.

Orbán also promised to give more than a 30 percent wage increase to teachers who have been protesting against his policies. But he was confronted with figures showing that Hungary is the second poorest country in the EU. Orbán, who has ruled Hungary continuously since 2010, views the figures as biased, noting that about half of Hungary’s less than 10 million population works.

The prime minister also defended a controversial legislation on sovereignty that critics compared to the foreign agent law in Russia, which allows for stronger controls on money flows to and from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and opposition parties.

He did not want to comment on revelations that his former school friend Lőrinc Mészáros, a former heating engineer-turned-billionaire, had purchased a yacht worth about 70 million euros $77 million). Orbán suggested the purchases are a private matter of a man whose companies received the most lucrative EU contracts.

Family members, friends, and political allies are among the wealthiest Hungarians, but Orbán says successful Hungarians pay taxes. The EU has expressed doubts and still withholds tens of billions of euros (dollars) in funding for Hungary over rule-of-law concerns.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.