BAILE TUSNAD, ROMANIA -- Hungary鈥檚 nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Saturday that the European Union was sliding toward oblivion in a rambling anti-Western speech in which he warned of a new, Asia-oriented 鈥渨orld order鈥� while throwing his support for Donald Trump鈥檚 U.S. presidential bid.
鈥淓urope has given up defending its own interests,鈥� Orbán said in Baile Tusnad, a majority-ethnic Hungarian town in central Romania. 鈥淎ll Europe is doing today is following the U.S.鈥檚 pro-Democrat foreign policy unconditionally 鈥� even at the cost of self-destruction.鈥�
鈥淎 change is coming that has not been seen for 500 years. What we are facing is in fact a world order change," he added, citing China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia as becoming the 鈥渄ominant center鈥� of the world.
Orbán also alleged that the U.S. was behind the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines built to carry gas from Russia to Germany, calling it 鈥渁n act of terrorism carried out at the obvious direction of the Americans.鈥� He didn't offer any evidence to back up the claim.
The far-right leader鈥檚 remarks come amid growing criticism from his European partners after he embarked on rogue 鈥減eace mission鈥� trips to Moscow and Beijing earlier this month aimed at brokering an end to Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine. Orbán is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin among all EU leaders.
On Ukraine, Orbán cast doubt on the war-torn country becoming either a member of NATO or the EU. 鈥淲e Europeans do not have the money for it. Ukraine will revert to the position of a buffer state,鈥� he said, adding that international security guarantees 鈥渨ill be enshrined in an agreement between the US and Russia.鈥�
Throughout Russia鈥檚 full-scale war in Ukraine, Orbán has broken with other EU leaders by refusing to provide Kyiv with weapons to defend against Russian forces and has routinely delayed, watered down, or blocked efforts to send financial aid to Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow.
Orbán typically uses the annual Tusvanyos Summer University platform in Romania to indicate the ideological direction of his national government and to deride the standards of the EU bloc, which Hungary joined in 2004.
Hungary currently holds the EU鈥檚 rotating presidency, during which Orbán has made a Trumpian vow to 鈥淢ake Europe Great Again鈥� and has openly endorsed Trump鈥檚 candidacy in this year鈥檚 U.S. presidential election. Orbán visited Trump twice this year at the former president鈥檚 beachside compound in Mar-a-Lago.
Orbán said Saturday that Trump鈥檚 bid for re-election aims 鈥渢o pull the American people back from a post-nationalist liberal state to a nation-state鈥� and rehashed a slew of conservative tropes that Trump is being penalized unfairly to prevent his electoral bid.
鈥淭hat is why they want to put him in prison. That鈥檚 why they want to take away his assets. And if that doesn鈥檛 work, that鈥檚 why they want to kill him,鈥� Orbán said, referring to an assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally this month.
Orbán鈥檚 remarks on Saturday aren鈥檛 the first time he鈥檚 used the festival in Transylvania to stir controversy. In 2014, Orban declared for the first time his intentions of building an 鈥渋lliberal state鈥� in Hungary, and in 2022, he sparked international outrage after he railed against Europe becoming a 鈥渕ixed race鈥� society. He doubled down on his long-held anti-immigration stance on Saturday, saying it is not an answer to his country's aging population.
鈥淭here can be no question of a shrinking population supplemented by migration,鈥� he said in his Saturday address. 鈥淭he Western experience is that if there are more guests than owners, then home is no longer home. This is a risk that should not be taken.鈥�
The EU鈥檚 longest-serving leader, Orbán has become an icon to some conservative populists for his firm opposition to immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. He has also cracked down on the press and judiciary in Hungary and been accused by the EU of violating rule-of-law and democracy standards.
McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania. Bálint Dömötör contributed from London.
