DID Press: Hungarian PM Viktor Orban warned Europe could be drawn into a wider conflict with Russia by 2026, arguing that current European Union policies are accelerating confrontation rather than paving the way for peace.
In an interview with a local newspaper, Orban said Europe had enjoyed nearly eight decades of peace after World War II, but that the strategic environment had now “fundamentally changed.” Asked whether 2025 might prove to be the continent’s last year of peace, he replied: “Yes — that possibility cannot be ruled out. Europe is moving closer to war.”
Referring to the December EU summit in Brussels, Orban claimed several proposals discussed there would deepen Europe’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine and increase tensions with Moscow. Leaders advocating compromise, he said, had merely managed to “slow the slide toward war.”
Relations between Russia and most NATO members have deteriorated sharply since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In recent months, reports of unidentified drones entering the airspace of NATO states — including Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Estonia and Poland — have multiplied, with many of the incidents attributed to Russian operations. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called such actions deliberate probes meant to “test Western resolve.”
Orban, a frequent critic of EU policy toward the Kremlin, has opposed sanctions targeting Russian energy supplies to Hungary and previously floated hosting a peace initiative involving U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — a proposal that was later shelved. Since taking office, he has advanced a “Eastern Opening” strategy aimed at balancing ties with the West while cultivating relationships with Russia, China and Turkey.
Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine in 2022, and the conflict continues to inflict heavy human and economic costs on both countries.