Hungarian Prime Minister: Trump's return would be better for the world

Prime Minister Orban, who has a long-standing relationship with Trump, made the remarks on his Facebook page on March 9 following his meeting with the 45th US president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida the day before.

Donald Trump takes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on a tour of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Photo: AP

The Hungarian leader said that when he was in power from 2017 to 2021, Trump was “a president of peace, he was respected by the whole world, so he created the conditions for peace,” the Hungarian leader said, stressing that there was no conflict in Ukraine or the Middle East at that time. “Today, there would be no war if he were the US president,” the Hungarian prime minister asserted.

According to Prime Minister Orban, Trump and he agreed that “there will be peace if there are world leaders who want peace.” The Hungarian Prime Minister added that he is “proud” that his country is one of the countries that is working for peace.

Since the conflict between Moscow and Kiev broke out in February 2022, Hungary has repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Unlike its EU neighbors, Budapest has refused to supply weapons to Kiev, maintains economic ties with Moscow, and has criticized the bloc's sanctions against Russia as "counterproductive." Russia has repeatedly stated that it is open to dialogue, but stressed that it has not received any reasonable proposals that take into account the real situation from Kiev or its Western backers. According to Moscow, under such conditions, it has no choice but to continue pursuing its goals in Ukraine through military means. Prime Minister Orban explained that the purpose of his visit to Florida was "to say frankly" that a second Trump presidency "would be better for the whole world," not just for relations between Budapest and Washington. The Hungarian prime minister added that, of course, the American people will decide who will be their next head of state.

Earlier this week, Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in the election when his last opponent, Nikki Haley, suspended her campaign after losing primaries in 14 of 15 states. US President Joe Biden criticized both Trump and Orban during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on March 8. “Do you know who he’s meeting today at Mar-a-Lago? Prime Minister Orban of Hungary, who has said bluntly that he thinks democracy doesn’t work, he’s looking for dictatorship.” Mr. Biden declared that he himself is looking for a future “where we defend democracy, not undermine it.”

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to resolve the Ukraine conflict “within 24 hours” if he returned to the Oval Office, and also stated that he would sit down with both Ukrainian President Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Putin./.