Hungary’s Orban says Trump was attacked for ‘anti-war’ views

This content was published on July 19, 2024 - 09:50

2 minutes

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that former U.S. President Donald Trump and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico were both attacked for their “anti-war views”.

Fico was hit by four bullets in an assassination attempt in mid-May while Trump, the Republican party’s nominee for the November presidential vote, survived a July 13 shooting.

Both are allies of Orban, a right-wing nationalist in power since 2010.

“All these attacks are against anti-war, pro-peace politicians,” Orban said in an interview with state-owned Kossuth radio station.

“Pro-war forces are so stirred up, tense, abetted and organised that they are trying to clean out the pro-peace forces from the stage, from the centre of political life.”

The Hungarian prime minister, who went on a self-styled Ukraine “peace mission” earlier this month that included a meeting with Trump, said that the former president survived the attack because “God has plans with him” to advance peace.

Orban’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said that Hungary sees a potential Trump second term as a “chance for peace” in Ukraine.

Orban said that he spoke to Trump for two hours during their meeting in Florida on July 11. Friday’s interview was the first time Orban talked about the meeting in detail.

He said they discussed several topics including economics and that his team was assisting Trump’s aides with policies.

“We have a very good relationship with those who work behind the president on writing his economic and foreign policy agendas,” Orban said.

“I could say that we take part in the process of this agenda setting, there are a few topic such as family policy and stopping migration where we are highly regarded.”