Von der Leyen on Orbán’s Fake "Peace Initiatives": Sovereignty Is Not Synonymous with Occupation in Any Language

In her first public speech after her re-election, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained why Orban's calls for an end to the fighting in Ukraine are false. She was speaking at the opening of the GLOBSEC international conference, which is being held for the first time in Prague, and stressed that this was the first time she had given a public speech since her confirmation as President of the European Commission for the next five years, and therefore her speech was particularly important. The President began with the Russian war against Ukraine as a key event on the European continent.

Von der Leyen once again acknowledged the mistake of Western Europe, which for a long time underestimated the warnings about Putin's aggressive policy. 

‘You've been telling us about Russia for so long... Well, we should have listened better to Central and Eastern Europe,’ she said.

However, the EC President, without mentioning Viktor Orban by name, harshly criticised his policy and the policy of official Hungary.

‘Will you blame the Hungarians for the Russian invasion of 1956? Or for the invasion of the Czech Republic in 1964?’ she asked.

Von der Leyen also focused on the so-called ‘peace initiatives’ of Orban, who calls for an end to hostilities and, to this end, opposes the supply of weapons to Ukraine to defend itself against attacks by the Russian army. 

‘Those who say that they are ‘for peace’ are actually advocating appeasement of the aggressor and subjugation of Ukraine... Some people focus a lot on the simple cessation of hostilities. Peace is not just the absence of war. Peace is when war is impossible and unnecessary,’ she stressed.

‘Sovereignty is not synonymous with occupation in any language,’ the President of the European Commission added.

As a reminder, immediately after the start of Hungary's EU presidency, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban went on a so-called ‘peacekeeping tour’, including to Russia. 

The European Union distanced itself from his actions, and Joseph Borrell twice officially stressed that Orban was only representing his country on these trips and had no mandate from Europe to make these visits. In this regard, Hungary looks increasingly isolated in the EU, and its position irritates the other 26 member states, whose decisions Hungary ignores.

Earlier, it was reported that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed to hold the second peace summit in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kyiv last week.