Hungarian conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovakian counterpart, left-wing nationalist Robert Fico, reiterated their support for a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference after holding talks in Bratislava on Monday, April 28th, Fico said:
We are in favour of an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, and we reject all military operations, which only serve to prolong the war.
Orbán said:
Our job in Europe should be to welcome American peace initiatives. When there are Russian-American negotiations, the risk of the war escalating is reduced to a low level.
The two Central European leaders have been the only EU prime ministers to opposed the EU’s strategy of sending weapons to aid Ukraine. They have instead advocated for a ceasefire and for peace talks to begin as soon as possible.
Fico also praised Orbán for defending his country’s national interests and sovereignty in debates within the EU, saying he would “never agree with procedures that aim to punish those who only do what they promised their voters.”
Hungary has been punished financially by the EU for, among other things, protecting its own borders from illegal migration, and for countering LGBT activism in schools.
Viktor Orbán said it would be a mistake to take away the veto rights of EU member states because that would amount to the undermining of their sovereignty.
Democracy is not in Brussels, but in the member states. It is not Brussels that guarantees democracy in Slovakia or Hungary, but we guarantee the democratic character of Brussels in the face of bureaucracy.
