On Sunday, March 15, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared in Kossuth Lajos Square in Budapest that he will not allow “Hungary to be plundered,” in a speech marking the anniversary of the 1848-1849 revolution and war of independence.
Orban accused European officials and authorities in Kiev of trying to put pressure on Budapest.
“The bureaucrats in Brussels and the war profiteers in Kiev are blackmailing, threatening, and intimidating Hungary. Brussels is blocking the country’s funds, while Ukraine is blocking our oil, because they want a change of government here. The current government will not hand over the keys to the treasury,” said Prime Minister Orban, according to Agerpres.
He emphasized that “our money is not enough for them: they want to take the money of our children and grandchildren too. Under the pretext of Ukraine, they want to reduce you to debt slaves for future generations.”
In the context of the regional crisis, Orban insisted that Hungary will not send young people to fight in Ukraine.
“It’s time for both Kiev and Brussels to understand that our sons will not die for Ukraine, but will live for Hungary. In war, it doesn’t matter who you are, how far you’ve come, what you’re good at or what you want to do in life; all that matters is whether you hold the machine gun correctly, how you can run after or away from the enemy – all that matters is how many people you’ve killed or how many bullets you’ve taken. This is not the fate we want for our children. This is not the fate we want for their mothers – to bury their sons in a foreign country, under foreign flags,” said the Hungarian Prime Minister.
The speech followed a “March of Peace,” organized by government supporters, which gathered tens of thousands of participants from across the country. They marched from Margaret Bridge to Kossuth Square under the slogan “We will not become a Ukrainian colony.”
The event takes place ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12.
The leader of the Hungarian opposition, Peter Magyar, later announced the organization of a rival demonstration.