Among friends of the Kremlin
“War lost”: What Orbán had to say in Vienna
The friends of the Kremlin held court in Vienna. The Swiss populist magazine "Die Weltwoche" invited Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former German Chancellor and well-known Putin friend Gerhard Schröder to Vienna for a discussion on "Peace in Europe".
Hundreds of people were already waiting to get in an hour before the event began, and in the end there were around 500 guests in Vienna's Sofiensäle, applauding Kremlin propaganda, laughing at Orbán and Schröder's little jokes about political friends and enemies - or how a politician who is heavily criticized can keep a thick skin but not contradict his own wife.
Schröder also praised Orbán for the fact that there was always plenty of goulash and beer when he visited Budapest as chancellor. Conversely, Orbán praised Schröder for his courage in advocating the "strategic autonomy" of Europe during the Iraq war 20 years ago.
Presenter and editor-in-chief Roger Köppel introduced Orbán as a resistance fighter who took to the streets against Soviet tanks as early as 1956. Orbán, born in 1963, was not even born yet.
"Born into the headwind"
However, it wasn't long before the EU was demonized and Moscow praised to the skies. Orbán said he was "born into the headwind". He was an anti-communist when his country was occupied by the Soviets. He was "opposed to power". No matter whether it comes from Moscow, as it did then, or from Brussels now. As far as the war in Ukraine is concerned, he is "not an optimist." Europe cannot be trusted because Europe cannot create peace. His hope lies in the election on the other side of the "big water". If Trump were to win, there would be a ceasefire, Orbán said.
"Greatest Putin expert" Schröder
Schröder, whom presenter Köppel introduced as the "greatest Putin expert", said of the Kremlin leader that he did not want to be a warlord, but was of course thinking about how to end the war. Schröder himself, he says, was present at the negotiations in Istanbul in April 2022 at the request of Ukraine and said that a proposal for a ceasefire was on the table - with solutions for the Donbass, a neutral Ukraine and a South Tyrol solution for Crimea. However, they were "not close enough" to an agreement, according to Schröder.
Orbán intervened and let us in on the details: The proposal had been torpedoed by then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson before he reported on his own "peace mission" in the summer after Hungary took over the EU Council presidency. He wanted an active presidency and not, like everyone else, to manage the standstill. So he made trips to Moscow, Kiev, Beijing and to Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, which presenter Köppl described as the "secret capital of the USA"."
"Counting on Trump"
According to Orbán, he could not stand idly by and watch Christians being killed. He had fallen on deaf ears in Kiev and Moscow, Beijing and Ankara showed interest, but Europe refused to cooperate. Only Trump had told him that if he won, Orbán could count on him. Schröder agreed with Orbán and said that "the major powers in Europe should follow Orbán". Moreover, initiatives would be difficult to implement without Germany and France.
Orbán's view of Europe is fundamentally pessimistic. If Trump were to make a deal with Putin, "Europe would not be at the table", he said. He had called on French President Macron and German Chancellor Scholz to talk to Moscow. "But hurry up," said Orbán. It could be too late after the US elections.
"Mustering in Vienna"
Hungary's Prime Minister then delivered a devastating verdict on Ukraine: "This war is lost!" This is the military reality and can only be prevented if NATO sends troops to Ukraine. And then, Orbán said, raising his forefinger threateningly, there would also be a draft in Vienna. Nobody told Hungary's Prime Minister that Austria's neutrality would not allow this.
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