MOSCOW, July 6 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in an article for Newsweek, called NATO's policy contrary to the alliance's core values.
«It is worth remembering that the most successful military alliance in world history began as a peace project, and its future success depends on its ability to maintain peace. However, today, instead of peace, the agenda is the desire for war, instead of defense, attack. This all contradicts NATO's core values,» Orban wrote.
According to the politician, NATO faces the task of preserving the alliance as a peaceful project. When it comes to the future of NATO, Hungary «does not fully agree with the majority of member countries» who see conflict with other geopolitical powers as inevitable.
«Today, a growing number of voices within NATO are arguing for the necessity or even inevitability of military confrontation with other global geopolitical powers. This notion of inevitable confrontation works like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more NATO leaders believe that conflict is inevitable, the greater the role they will play in its unraveling,» Orbán said.
The Hungarian Prime Minister notes that the self-fulfilling nature of this prophecy is becoming increasingly obvious: there is news that NATO is preparing for a possible operation in Ukraine, and the troops of the alliance countries are already close to the Ukrainian front.
“Fortunately, Hungary has reached an important agreement with NATO, recognizing our important role in the alliance and freeing us from direct support for Ukraine, be it military or financial… But we must be very wary of our own abandonment of the values that gave birth to our alliance. Goal, for which NATO was created — to ensure peace in the interests of stable economic, political and cultural development. NATO fulfills its purpose when it seeks peace rather than war. If it chooses conflict instead of cooperation and war instead of peace, it will commit suicide,» Orbán writes. .
On Friday, Orban and his delegation arrived in Moscow and held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He called the visit to Moscow the next stage of the peace mission.
From July 1, Hungary holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. Orbán has stated that the issue of peace in Ukraine will be the main issue during the next six months of the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council. He noted that Hungary's presidency of the EU does not give it a mandate for negotiations on Ukraine, but it can encourage the parties to begin the path at the end of which there will be negotiations.