Countries Can’t Depend on NATO for Protection Without Doing Their Part: Hungarian PM

Hungary’s prime minister said on Friday that he doesn’t believe Western countries can depend on NATO for national security.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban advised fellow nations that NATO wouldn’t be there to protect them unless they are protecting themselves.
  • Orban has some concerns about the country’s military which is still reorganizing, but said he believes his country should avoid war, according to RT.
  • The prime minister also said he believes that sanctions, even if not intended for Hungary, could cause economic danger as energy prices rise, saying it’s just the start of the crisis.
ORBAN’S COMMENTS:
  • “NATO will protect us when we are ready to defend ourselves. Anyone who thinks NATO will protect us is wrong,” he said in an interview for Kossuth state radio. “If we do not prepare for such a conflict, it will not work later. We started on time.”
  • “Sanctions have a price as it is a double-edged weapon, and we will pay this price in the short term,” he said in the interview before going on to outline his country’s “very difficult situation.” According to Orban though, not just any peace will do, “we need strategic peace.”
  • “Everyone is upset about the war. In a situation like this, it’s easy to make mistakes, so you shouldn’t make any hasty decisions. I see the left is on the side of the war because what they want will take us into the war.”
BACKGROUND:
  • Hungary’s military is still in a rebuilding phase since 2010 when they were forced to reorganize, according to RT.
  • The nation of Hungary has a front-row seat to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and, while NATO might be the hope of some, up to this point they have only provided weapons and declined to police the no-fly zone over Ukraine, according to The Associated Press.

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