Hungary

Prime Minister of Hungary

15 Mar 2024 2 1

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 months ago

“We finally negotiated a control mechanism to guarantee that the money would be used sensibly, and we received a guarantee that Hungary's money would not end up in Ukraine.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

01 Feb 2024 3 4

Jens Bastian

Inserted 3 months ago

“[Hungary and Serbia] are the leading recipients of Chinese foreign direct investment in 2023 in Central and Eastern Europe. China is building and partly financing a Budapest-Belgrade high-speed railway. Chinese electrical vehicle battery manufacturer CATL is investing $7.6bn in the Hungarian city of Debrecen for the construction of a battery plant. It would be Europe's largest electrical battery facility. It would be CATL's single-largest overseas investment and its second facility in Hungary.”

Fellow with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs

29 Jan 2024 4 8

Katalin Miklossy

Inserted 3 months ago

“Victor Orban reads the cards right, unfortunately. He understands the wind in the EU is changing. There are more and more voices in the EU that want the Ukrainians to just sit down at the table and negotiate peace with the Russians because we cannot afford to support Ukraine forever.”

University of Helsinki lecturer in Eastern European studies

29 Jan 2024 4 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 4 months ago

“Hungarians ... don't bow to pressure. There are conditions, they were not met. The council is not in a position to decide. We have an opinion and we will stand by that.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

14 Dec 2023 1 3

Péter Szijjártó

Inserted 4 months ago

“A majority of European politicians want to make such important decisions which are entirely unprepared and lack strategic agreement on the future of Europe. We will not give in to any pressure ... irrespective of where that is coming from, from whom, and what kind of blackmail it is or promise.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister

11 Dec 2023 2 2

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 7 months ago

“We cannot avoid the question - when during the autumn we will have negotiations in Brussels about the future of Ukraine - whether we can actually seriously consider membership for a country, to start accession talks with a country that is at war. We don't know how big the territory of this country is, as the war is still ongoing, we don't know how big its population is as they are fleeing ... to admit a country to the EU without knowing its parameters, this would be unprecedented. So I think we need to answer very long and difficult questions until we get to actually deciding about the start of accession talks.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

29 Sep 2023 2 2

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 1 year ago

“The Western strategy on Ukraine has been built on four pillars - that Ukraine can win a war against Russia with NATO weapons, that sanctions would weaken Russia and destabilise its leadership, that sanctions would hurt Russia more than Europe, and that the world would line up in support of Europe. This strategy has failed as governments in Europe are collapsing like dominoes, energy prices have surged and a new strategy was needed now. We are sitting in a car that has a puncture in all four tyres: it is absolutely clear that the war cannot be won in this way. Ukraine will never win the war this way quite simply because the Russian army has assymetrical dominance.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

23 Jul 2022 9 1

Péter Szijjártó

Inserted 1 year ago

“The Brussels package of sanctions would ban oil shipments from Russia to Europe, with a rather short notice, in case of Hungary the end of next year. Hungary cannot support the measures in their current form. Hungary could only agree to these measures if crude oil imports from Russia via pipeline were exempted from the sanctions.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister

04 May 2022 6 3

Zoltan Kovacs

Inserted 1 year ago

“We do not see any plans or guarantees on how a transition could be managed based on the current proposals, and how Hungary's energy security would be guaranteed.”

Hungarian government spokesman

04 May 2022 4 5

Peter Virovacz

Inserted 2 years ago

“The expectation that there could be a relatively quick agreement with the European Commission (on EU funds) is questionable now after in his speech last night Viktor Orban took a repeated swipe at Brussels. We can hardly expect that his government, with two-thirds majority now, will be as ready for a compromise as it would have been with a simple majority win in elections.”

Senior economist at ING in Budapest

04 Apr 2022 2 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“We are not living in a comfortable West, we are living in the midst of difficulties, not just now but throughout our history, so we are able to tell the difference between who is a migrant and who is a refugee. Migrants are stopped. Refugees can get all the help. We're prepared to take care of them [Ukrainians], and we'll be able to rise to the challenge quickly and efficiently.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

03 Mar 2022 6 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“If we were to end energy cooperation with Russia, the energy bills of every Hungarian family would triple in a single month.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

02 Mar 2022 4 1

Mark Leonard

Inserted 2 years ago

“What liberated Orban was 2015 and the migration crisis. He was suddenly standing for more than Hungary but for wider issues of migration, with support in Germany and Austria and the other Central European states, and that gave him power.”

Nytimes

Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations

03 Jan 2022 6 3

Daniel Hegedüs

Inserted 2 years ago

“Márki-Zay has not yet boosted support for the opposition, with most polls showing a tight race. The situation is worse than opinion polls suggest as the redrawing of electoral districts by Fidesz has given the ruling party an advantage. The united opposition should win at least 3 to 5% more votes to get a majority mandate in the Hungarian national assembly. That's a huge difference and we don't see this advantage in the polls yet. The political race isn't taking place on an even playing field; it's heavily tilted to Orbán. The integrity of the 2022 election will be even worse than in 2014, or 2018, which were free but not fair. It's already a dirty contest and it will be a huge task for the opposition to win.”

Theguardian

International Relations and Policy Analyst, fellow at German Marshall Fund focusing on Central & Eastern Europe

02 Jan 2022 8 3

Zoltán Kész

Inserted 2 years ago

“He [Péter Márki-Zay] is a statesman, he is not the kind of guy who wants to be a politician just for the sake of politics… You can see it in his eyes that he has determination to change the system for the good. He's a conservative, I'm a liberal [libertarian]. He's very religious, I'm not, but we both believe Hungary isn't democratic now.”

Theguardian

Former MP who is supporting Márki-Zay

02 Jan 2022 2 3

Róbert László

Inserted 2 years ago

“After 16 years it's the first time the opposition has a real chance to win. Nobody expected the left and centre parties who dominated the opposition could be led by an outsider coming from the right. One of his [Péter Márki-Zay] super-powers is that he can't be blamed as the puppet of the past leftist parties, or the ex-prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. Now we can see that the Fidesz propaganda machine is confused. [Márki-Zay] is not a liberal intelligentsia, he seems to be much more like a Fidesz member.”

Theguardian

Election specialist at the Political Capital institute in Budapest

02 Jan 2022 6 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“I am doing my best to convince Europe's great leaders that the Balkans may be further away from them than from Hungary, but how we manage the security of a state in which 2 million Muslims live is a key issue for their security too.”

Trtworld

Prime Minister of Hungary

21 Dec 2021 4 2

Pesti Máté

Inserted 2 years ago

“This successful and unique cooperation shows that a pragmatic, mutually beneficial and win-win partnership is the real driving force behind the economic cooperation between China and Hungary. The newly opened flights are fully aligned with the strategy of the Hungarian government to develop into a central European freight, logistics and distribution center. They will also further strengthen the role of Zhengzhou and Budapest as important freight terminals in China and Central and Eastern Europe.”

Globaltimes

Ambassador of Hungary to China

12 Dec 2021 9 1

Tamas Matura

Inserted 2 years ago

“The Hungarian government is now silent about such China-related controversial issues and is trying to emphasize the bright side of [China-Hungary] ties, like the amount of Chinese investment flowing into the country.”

Assistant professor at Corvinus University in Budapest

23 Nov 2021 3 4

Peter Marki-Zay

Inserted 2 years ago

“Everything must be revisited and reviewed and all corruption must be identified. The Budapest to Belgrade railway and the vaccine procurement must be revisited and must be checked thoroughly by open and independent authorities.”

Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (Hungary) and candidate for Prime Minister under the banner of the Hungarian opposition

12 Nov 2021 3 3

Peter Marki-Zay

Inserted 2 years ago

“People had enough in 1956, and they have had enough now. Our basic goal - for all of us, left and right - is for Hungary to be a democracy, to be governed by the rule of law in a market economy and as part of the European Union.”

Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (Hungary) and candidate for Prime Minister under the banner of the Hungarian opposition

24 Oct 2021 3 4

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“Brussels would do well to understand that even the communists could not handle us. We're the David whom Goliath is better off avoiding.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

24 Oct 2021 4 2

Peter Marki-Zay

Inserted 2 years ago

“Our task now is to convince those who are undecided and even bring over disappointed Fidesz voters, in order to defeat Orban [Viktor Orban] at the parliamentary election next April.”

Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (Hungary) and candidate for Prime Minister under the banner of the Hungarian opposition

18 Oct 2021 3 4

Klara Dobrev

Inserted 2 years ago

“I wish him [Peter Marki-Zay] a lot of strength … in our effort to unseat Viktor Orban and then dismantle his regime.”

Hungarian politician

17 Oct 2021 2 3

Peter Marki-Zay

Inserted 2 years ago

“We can only win together. This was a battle, but we have to win the war as well.”

Mayor of Hódmezővásárhely (Hungary) and candidate for Prime Minister under the banner of the Hungarian opposition

17 Oct 2021 0 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“Families, the basis of our societies, are under attack by Western liberal forces, but we will not give in. Western civilisation cannot sustain itself. But some do not even see it as a problem; some believe automatisation will solve all our problems while others want to settle migrants as the new working class of Europe. But you cannot change the identity of 1,000-year-old civilisations.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

23 Sep 2021 6 2

Antal Csardi

Inserted 2 years ago

“The primary elections are an innovation that was forced on us by the election system, and are the only hope of seeing an anti-Fidesz candidate win. The opposition can only compete with Fidesz if they are in a single bloc. We've learned that the hard way.”

Hungarian politician candidate for the green LMP party to oppose Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

18 Sep 2021 2 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“I have thought a lot about how I could summarize what was discussed at the meeting, and I think it is best to say that the two countries have agreed to rebuild Central Europe. However, at the moment, it is not enough just to rebuild Central Europe, but we must also protect it, to guarantee the security of Central Europe. Developments in Afghanistan suggest a large wave of migration that could lead to a very difficult situation both for Hungary and Serbia. It is clear to us that those migrants do not want to live in Serbia or Hungary, but want to go to Western European countries, which means that if we stand in the way of migrations, we are also defending Western European countries, for example Austria, Germany. That is assignment history, determined to us, not for the first time, that we defend Europe.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

08 Sep 2021 7 4

Ferenc Kajári

Inserted 2 years ago

“KFOR is the largest NATO operation in 2021 and consist of over 3500 soldiers from 27 countries, and Hungary will provide the third-largest unit. Hungarian officers will, among others, be in the position of political advisor to the commander and head of the KFOR legal advisory team.”

Europeanwesternbalkans

26 Aug 2021 3 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 2 years ago

“That will happen [outside interference in the 2022 Hungarian election]. We are not worried about it. We are prepared for it. Obviously, the international left will do everything that they can do, probably even more, to change the government here in Hungary.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

05 Aug 2021 1 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 3 years ago

“We are going to launch a new platform, an organization, a process which will give those citizens who believe in a traditional Europe the representation that they deserve. We have agreed to continue the work. We will meet in May, either in Rome or in Warsaw. The date will depend on the pandemic.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

01 Apr 2021 1 1

Agnes Galgoczy

Inserted 3 years ago

“With this vaccine [Chinese vaccine Sinopharm], five different types are now available in Hungary so that we may get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Apnews

Member of the Hungary National Public Health Center

16 Feb 2021 2 4

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 3 years ago

“If vaccines aren't coming from Brussels, we must obtain them from elsewhere. One cannot allow Hungarians to die simply because Brussels is too slow in procuring vaccines.”

Latimes

Prime Minister of Hungary

28 Jan 2021 (approx) 6 6

Gergely Karacsony

Inserted 3 years ago

“The governments of Hungary and Poland are at war with their allies, they are at war with the EU, and they are also at war with their own municipalities. The Hungarian government’s strategy is clear: if it cannot convert public money to private money and channel it to its oligarchs, it is ready to give up those funds.”

Mayor of Budapest

07 Dec 2020 3 2

József Szájer

Inserted 3 years ago

“A newspaper ran in the Belgian press today about a house party in Brussels on Friday (November 27th) that I was attending. After the police certificate, I indicated that I was a representative because I did not have a card, the police conducted the procedure, was given a verbal warning and then taken home. I didn’t use drugs, I offered to the police on the spot to have an official test done, but they didn’t. Police said an ecstasy pill was found. It’s not mine, I don’t know who placed it and how. I made a statement to the police about this. I am sorry that I have violated the rules of assembly, it was irresponsible on my part, I will take the penalties for that.”

Euronews

Hungarian politician and former Member of the European Parliament from Hungary

01 Dec 2020 6 1

Judit Varga

Inserted 3 years ago

“There is no clear objective criteria or clear definition of principles of rule of law, so you cannot use it as a tool for [a] concrete sanctioning mechanism. The political blackmailing is a very bad and irresponsible tactic from the European Parliament and some member states. It is not our task to find [a] solution to the problem.”

Politico

Hungarian Minister of Justice

18 Nov 2020 4 3

Viktor Orbán

Inserted 3 years ago

“In Brussels, they only view countries which let migrants in as those governed by the rule of law. Once this proposal gets adopted, there will be no more obstacles to tying member states' share of common funds to supporting migration and the use of financial means to blackmail countries which oppose migration. Those who defend their borders and defend their countries against immigration can no longer be classified as law-abiding in Brussels.”

Prime Minister of Hungary

18 Nov 2020 3 1

Donald Tusk

Inserted 3 years ago

“This attempt to build a new ideology, which is called by Viktor Orban an 'illiberal democracy,' means in fact 'degenerate democracy.' To put it simply: democracy without the rule of law and freedom of speech, it's not a democracy at all.”