Former German chancellor Angela Merkel defended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a recent interview with the Hungarian opposition YouTube channel Partizán, rejecting frequently repeated accusations that he serves Russian interests over Hungarian ones in the European Union.
‘No, that’s nonsense. We wouldn’t fall for something like that,’ Merkel responded when host Márton Gulyás asked whether Orbán was a Russian ‘Trojan horse’ in the EU. ‘I think it’s absurd,’ she added.
Merkel and Orbán had a special relationship, which also came up in the interview. The two often clashed over how to address Europe’s challenges, most notably during the 2015 migration crisis. When Merkel decided to open Europe’s borders to millions of Middle Eastern migrants—both legal and illegal—Orbán took a firm stand and closed Hungary’s southern border. Today, unlike in 2015, many share Orbán’s views and accuse Merkel of having destroyed Europe by admitting millions of migrants.
‘Viktor Orbán has always represented his own position on the European stage, and he often justified the Hungarian standpoint very well. But what mattered to me was that in the end we found common solutions,’ Merkel pointed out.
‘He is representing Hungary’s economic interests very firmly’
She stressed that the Hungarian prime minister, like herself, always sought compromise: ‘Otherwise we would not have achieved anything.’ In her view, the European Union can only function if all member states agree, even when ‘we hold different opinions on questions of equality and diversity.’
At the same time, Merkel criticized Orbán for frequently blaming the European Commission and Brussels in domestic politics. On the issue of Russian energy imports, she remarked: ‘Until the end of last year, Ukraine was transporting Russian gas across its own territory under an agreement that we in Germany strongly supported at the time.’
She acknowledged that Hungary’s situation is different: ‘LNG (liquefied natural gas) cannot be brought in so easily, because they have no access to the sea. The circumstances are more complicated.’ While Merkel said she did not agree with Orbán’s decision to continue importing Russian energy, she admitted: ‘He is representing Hungary’s economic interests very firmly.’
Watch the full interview below:
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