Hungarian PM warns 2026 could decide Europe’s military future

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned that Europe has “chosen war”, framing Hungary’s 2026 parliamentary election as a decisive moment over whether the country aligns with Brussels or maintains its current course.

Speaking in a year-end interview on Hungary’s M1 television channel, Orbán described 2025 as a turning point for Europe, arguing that hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Ukraine war had failed to materialise.

“The year 2025 was a watershed year,” he said, referring to the election of a new American president. “We built our plans on the assumption that the American president would rally the Europeans and bring the Ukrainian-Russian war to an end. We thought 2025 would be the year of breakthrough—from war to peace.” He added that those expectations had not been fulfilled.

Orbán said the failure of those efforts had led to what he described as an unprecedented split between the United States and Europe. “For the first time since I’ve been observing international politics, Americans and Europeans took opposing positions on a strategically vital issue like a European war,” he said.

According to the Hungarian prime minister, Washington had sought to end the conflict, while European leaders had chosen a different path. “The American president gave the command to end the war and make peace, to which the Europeans responded, ‘No—we want to continue this war, even without the Americans. We’ll provide money, weapons, and if needed, soldiers.’”

He claimed that Europe had since “reorganized its entire economy into a war economy”.

Orbán said Hungary was forced to make a strategic choice. “Do we support the American push for peace or the Brussels-led decision to continue the war? In simpler terms: do we stay out of this European war effort, or join it?”

He confirmed that Hungary had chosen not to participate. “Even in 2024, when both the U.S. and Brussels were trying to drag us into a military alliance to aid Ukraine, Hungary managed to stay out. That proves that a country with internal stability and political will can say no—even under simultaneous pressure.”

The prime minister said this decision had reshaped Hungary’s domestic economic policy. While other European countries were tightening budgets, Hungary had taken what he called a different approach. “We chose the path of a peace economy,” he said.

Orbán cited a series of social and economic measures, including a doubled child tax credit, lifelong income tax exemptions for mothers, a 14th month pension, an 11% minimum wage increase, and the Otthon Start fixed 3% housing loan scheme. He argued that, while Western European countries were raising taxes and living costs to fund the war effort, Hungary was prioritising families and small businesses.

However, he acknowledged that Hungary’s export-driven economy faced growing pressure, particularly as Germany—its largest trading partner—shifts towards what he described as a war-focused economy. “The task is not to complain,” he said, “but to ask: where else can we sell our products?”

He said Hungary’s response was its “connectivity” strategy, aimed at expanding trade relations beyond Europe.

Looking ahead, Orbán said 2026 would be shaped by a critical geopolitical question. “That is the major question of 2026,” he said, referring to whether the United States could reach a peace agreement with Russia without European involvement.

He rejected suggestions that Hungary should bow to international pressure. “Hungary is strong enough—just as we are—to stay out of a war, even if that means standing against the entire Western world or against Brussels,” he said.

The prime minister also issued a stark warning about the European Union’s direction. “Europe has decided it is going to war,” he said, adding that European Council meetings now resemble military briefings rather than political discussions.

“What used to be peaceful discussions have become war councils. We talk about how to defeat Russia, how to win the war with Ukraine. European leaders are walking ever closer to the edge—an abyss called war,” he said.

Orbán concluded that Hungary’s voters would face a clear choice in the 2026 election: whether to align with Brussels or continue on what he described as Hungary’s path of peace and sovereignty.

By Aghakazim Guliyev