Speaker 1 (00:00):
[foreign language 00:00:13].
Viktor Orban (04:23):
[foreign language 00:00:43] continuous discussion between us, exchange of experiences related to government work, especially in four areas: one, migration; number two, gender ideology; number three, family policy; and number four, global security. Because in these areas, fields, Hungary has amassed substantial experiences and quite an extended network of contacts in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. And as a result of our discussions today, we have agreed that it is in the interest of both parties to continue this corporation and that the strategic corporation between the two countries is going to be continuous and will be continued. Thank you very much for honoring us with your presence for coming to Hungary.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Prime Minister, thank you very much. Now, I ask JD Vance to deliver his statement.
JD Vance (05:18):
Well, thank you, Prime Minister, first of all, and thanks to the people of Hungary for welcoming me. This is a beautiful city, a city that I've been to once before on a personal trip probably five or six years ago. I remember the first time that I came to this beautiful country, my wife was about 20 weeks pregnant with our second child, and now we've come back to Budapest, and my wife is 20 weeks pregnant with our fourth child. So there's an interesting way in which our trips to Hungary have rhymed.
(05:45)
I also want to thank the president of the United States, who, of course, is a dear friend of Prime Minister Orban and a very strident supporter of Prime Minister Orban, because together the president of the United States and the prime minister of Hungary have been able to do amazing things. We're here because we want to celebrate those amazing things. We want to build upon those amazing things. And of course, I want to help as much as I possibly can, the prime minister, as he faces this election season, which I believe is happening in just about a week, the election to elect the next prime minister of Hungary.
(06:15)
Now, I don't expect, of course, the people of Hungary to listen to the vice president of the United States. That's not primarily why I'm here. But I did want to send a signal to everybody, particularly the bureaucrats in Brussels who have done everything that they can to hold down the people of Hungary because they don't like the leader who has actually stood up for the people of Hungary. I think it's important to say that.
(06:36)
There are so many things that we could point to. There's so many economic pieces of cooperation, so much investment that's come into Hungary from the United States. I think Viktor Orban has been the single most profound leader in Europe on the question of energy security and independence. It is funny to watch prime ministers and leaders in some of the Western European capitals talk about the energy crisis when, frankly, they should have been following the policies of Viktor Orban in Hungary. And if they had, the energy crisis that they're experiencing would be a lot less bad because what's going on in Hungary right now is that while, yes, energy prices are elevated, they're far less elevated here than they are almost anywhere else in Europe. That's because the leadership of the man who's standing next to me.
(07:19)
I think that leadership can provide a model to the continent. We want Europe to be successful. We want European families to be able to afford to heat their homes and to build great things. We want Europe to be energy independent and even energy dominant, but it's not going to be energy secure if it continues to follow the failed policies of the past. So I think Viktor has been a great example and charting a course that could lead to a better, more prosperous, and more energy secure Europe. There's a lot of other cooperation in technology and artificial intelligence and manufacturing. There are so many ways in which the United States and Hungary have been great economic partners, and that partnership has really accelerated over the past couple of years under President Trump's leadership.
(08:02)
But ladies and gentlemen, I'm not here primarily, Viktor, because of the economic cooperation between our countries. I'm here because of the moral cooperation between our two countries, because what the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor's leadership and under President Trump's leadership is the defense of Western civilization, the defense of the idea that children should be able to go to school and get educated and not indoctrinated, the defense of the idea that European and American families should be able to transport themselves and be able to afford to heat and cool their homes, the defense of the idea that we are founded on a certain Christian civilization and Christian values that animate everything from freedom of speech to rule of law, to respect for minority rights and protection of the vulnerable. There is so much that unites the United States and Hungary. Unfortunately, there have been too few people who have been willing to stand up for the values of Western civilization. Viktor Orban
JD Vance (09:00):
... is the rare exception that has unfortunately proved the rule. That's one of the reasons why I'm here. I'm here because Viktor is a statesman and we have seen so much talk in European capitals about the need to end the war in Russia and Ukraine and we certainly agree with it. The war would've never started if President Trump had been president four years ago. But now that it has started, probably the two leaders who have done the most to actually end that destructive conflict have been Donald J. Trump and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. And they've done it through diplomacy, through talking to people, through trying to understand what the Ukrainians and the Russians need to end the war. We're going to continue to participate in that process, but I think that it is a testament to the people of Hungary that you're a country of 10 million people.
(09:45)
But I'm telling you, I've sat in all the rooms and I've been on all the phone calls, your leadership has been a far, far more important and constructive partner for peace than almost anyone anywhere else in the world. And that is a great testament, I think, to the wisdom and the courage of the people of Hungary. And then finally, just want to say something, one final observation about this election. What has happened in this country, what has happened in the midst of this election campaign is one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I've ever seen or ever even read about. The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers, and they've done it all because they hate this guy.
(10:37)
But I think that what the people of Hungary, what I would encourage them to do is ask themselves the question, not who's pro or anti-Europe, not who's pro or anti the United States of America, but who is pro you? Who is pro the people of Hungary? In my experience, I've seen a guy who has ferociously advocated for the interests of Hungary. I'm here to help him in this campaign cycle. And yet when I sat down with Viktor, we didn't talk about politics. We talked about baba, baba, baba, "Here are five things that we need, that the Hungarian people need from the United States in order to further our partnership and in order to achieve prosperity." That's the kind of leadership that is needed.
(11:15)
And on everything from digital censorship, why are bureaucrats in Brussels telling social media companies what information they're giving to Hungarian voters? I think the voters of Hungary are adults. They are sovereign in their own country and they should be able to look at whatever information they would like to about the election without somebody in a far away capital treating them like children. Sovereignty, democracy are fundamentally about the people choosing. And part of the reason why we're here and part of the reason why the President of the United States sent me here is because that we think the amount of interference that's come from the bureaucracy in Brussels has been truly disgraceful. I won't tell the people of Hungary how to vote. I would encourage the bureaucrats in Brussels to do the exact same thing. So Viktor, thank you. And it's good to see you.
Viktor Orbán (12:02):
Thank you very much.
JD Vance (12:02):
We'll take a couple of questions. You want to-
Viktor Orbán (12:09):
Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
JD Vance (12:09):
Yes.
Viktor Orbán (12:09):
We have time for a couple of questions. The first two goes to the Hungarian side and then the floor is yours Mr. Vice President. [foreign language 00:12:16]
(12:17)
So the first question goes to Hungarian Television [inaudible 00:12:20]
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Thank you very much and good afternoon. I would not like to stand up because of the cameras and I have two questions. One is to Mr. Prime Minister, the other one is to Mr. Vice President. For the Prime Minister, I would like to ask because you touched the possibilities of ending the Russian-Ukrainian War during the negotiations and from the Vice President, I would like to ask you to comment on the threat of President Zelenskyy towards Hungary and personally towards Viktor Orbán. Thank you.
Viktor Orbán (12:54):
Okay. We did touch upon the Russian-Ukrainian War, which is a painful subject. We're talking about a war waged between two Christian countries, moreover in the territory of Europe. So these two sentences actually set out how serious this war is. And I have always really looked up on the President of the United States, I'm talking about the current president obviously, that from the first moments onwards, he regarded these two dimensions as the most important. In Europe two Orthodox deeply Christian countries are waging a war where tens and hundreds of thousands of people die and become injured for life. This is so terrible that you have to stop it at all costs. And since the United States prior to President Trump was in favor of this war, for us the current position of the United States is indeed very valuable because it's fundamentally pro peace. So if a Hungarian and a US politician meet, they cannot avoid talking the Russian-Ukrainian War.
(14:29)
Moreover, this war is being waged in the neighborhood of Hungary. Hungarians also die in this war. Since in the current territory of Ukraine, multiple Hungarians live who are drafted. Occasionally with brutal coercive measures, they are taken to the front where they die. So you cannot avoid talking about the Russian-Ukrainian War during such [inaudible 00:15:00] especially so because previously the President of the United States had initiated a peace summit, so between the US and Russia, and he recommended as a venue for these talks Budapest, the capital of Hungary, which is the perhaps only possible venue in Europe and Hungary agreed to that.
(15:19)
In fact, I must say that up to the level of the technical preparation of this meeting we negotiated on those with both the President of the United States and the President of Russia. And Hungary remains ready so that if the US and Russia believe that a peace summit is required between the two of them and then Budapest will be happy to provide itself as a venue for that meeting, and we are available. That's all I can say to you.
JD Vance (15:56):
Thank you for your willingness to host. And just to answer your question, so I'm not aware of President Zelenskyy threatening Viktor Orbán. I know that there have been a lot of people who have threatened Viktor and have, frankly, not just threatened the people of Hungary, but have actually tried to exact costs on the people of Hungary because their leadership has been one of the few that's been wise and smart about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Now look, you don't have to defend the morality of the war. I think Viktor has. I certainly have. The President of the United States has condemned the invasion. We don't like the war. We want it to stop. That's not the question. The question is, how do you make it stop? And the answer is not by politicians who stand at microphones and beat their chests and act tough when somebody else's children are going off to fight in a conflict, you do it through sustained diplomacy.
(16:46)
And so I'd ask the people of Hungary and not just Hungary, but the people all across Europe, what is the alternative to peace? Is it to continue feeding young men into this terrible, terrible war to continue this completely ridiculous cycle of violence, or is it to get serious about diplomacy? Is it to continue to have skyrocketing energy prices to the point where European economies are on the verge of collapse, or is it to sit down and get serious about a peaceful resolution? The reason the President of the United States has been so dedicated about this is not because it affects us as personally as it does the people of Hungary or Europe. In fact, we're much more insulated, as all of you know, from what's going on in Russia-Ukraine than most countries anywhere else in the world.
(17:27)
The President has asked us to work so diligently on it because he knows that it's bad. It's bad for commerce, it's bad for morality, it's bad for human life. We need to actually engage in some real diplomacy. Viktor has been better at anybody at helping us understand what is the Ukrainians need and what is it that the Russians need in order to achieve peace. We're going to keep on working on that process. As you've all heard the President say, this war has been the hardest of all the wars that he's worked on to solve, but we're going to keep on working at it. The President has ordered us to keep on working at it, but we need people.
JD Vance (18:00):
... We need people in Europe who understand the stakes and understand how to get this negotiation done. Victor's been a great part of it, which is why the president asked him about the Budapest Summit because I think wherever we're going to get these leaders together, this is the perfect place to do it, a place of real statesmanship, a place that has shown itself very willing to be a positive force for peace.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
[foreign language 00:18:24].
Viktor Orban (18:29):
Thank you very much. The second question goes to Patriota [foreign language 00:18:30].
Speaker 4 (18:30):
[foreign language 00:18:30].
Viktor Orban (18:30):
Thank you very much. Good afternoon to you. I have one question to each of the participants. Mr. Orban, you have mentioned the serious energy crisis that we are facing. The ships that have been able to pass the Strait of Hormuz are just reaching Europe now. Now that there is no oil coming from Russia or from Middle East, what do you think will happen with Europe, with Hungary? And what can the Hungarian American energy cooperation mean for Hungary? And what do you think will Brussels also lift the sanctions on the Russian energy?
Speaker 4 (19:07):
And I would also like to ask Vice President Vance in English if I may?
JD Vance (19:09):
Please.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
So according to recent U.S. intelligence reports, Ukraine may have interfered in the American elections, helping the Democrats. It has also come to light that the Ukrainian intelligence treats Hungary as an operational zone as well. What kind of political motivation could be behind Ukraine targeting conservative patriotic political forces, both in the United States and in Hungary? Thank you very much.
Viktor Orban (19:38):
[foreign language 00:19:39].
Viktor Orban (19:39):
I think there's definitely a new situation in Europe, but the Hungarian elections are perhaps tightening our horizon, restricting our horizon, therefore we're not paying as much attention because of the elections to the developments, of course, because we Hungarians are mainly preoccupied with the outcome of the elections next Sunday. However, there is something that is going to change everything that's happening. The thing is that the strategy that the Europeans have followed to support Ukrainians so far has ended, has failed. This strategy has failed. At the start already, it was an extremely strange idea to actually help the Ukrainians and try to bring about a situation where the protracted war puts Russia in such dire straits economically that in the end, the Ukrainians, from the perspective of the Ukrainians and the Europeans who support them, the Russians will be forced to sit down with them in a weakened status that is preferable for the opposition.
(20:57)
However, to wage an economic war against a country that has unlimited energy resources and has unlimited raw materials, while those waging economic war do not have energy and do not have raw materials, was a very strange idea. And for some time they might believe that the sanctions levied on Russia, in the end will be enough to actually win this economic war. But what is happening now is all of a sudden, everything has gained importance what the Russians dispose of, and suddenly they are in a much more favorable position than they used to be before ever.
(21:41)
So the support of Ukrainians strategy has basically failed, but now we are concentrating on the elections. That's why perhaps less attention was paid to this. But we will be faced with an absolutely new situation after the Hungarian elections. The Hungarian situation is difficult. I do not want to make a secret of it because it was first at the end of 2022 that the Ukrainians closed, blockaded the gas [inaudible 00:22:13], that was bringing gas from Russia to Hungary. We managed to fend that off with the third stream but just now, not much before the elections. And I think because of the upcoming elections and in the hope of having a pro-Ukrainian government elected into office, they actually blockaded our oil pipeline as well, the oil pipeline that is the umbilical cord of the Hungarian economy coming from Russia, the main supply route coming from Russia.
(22:42)
Consequently, Hungary has had to tap into her reserves. There's two things we are doing. On the one hand, they closed us off from oil. We have to supply the Hungarian economy, Hungarian consumers with fuel and with energy. And we have to force the Ukrainians to reopen the pipeline. And we have a plan to do that. We are actually executing that step by step. And at the end of this, I am convinced after the national forces win the election here in Hungary, that there will be no option for the Ukrainians then to lift this blockade, to reopen the pipeline, and Hungary can just go back to normal operation. These are my ... Well, I wouldn't say hope. These are my plans. This is how it's going to happen.
JD Vance (23:30):
So to answer your question, yes, we're certainly aware that there are elements within the Ukrainian intelligence services that tried to put their thumb on the scale of American elections, on Hungarian elections. This is just what they do. This is part of the cost of doing business within some elements of their system. I try to remind myself that Ukraine, like the United States, is a very complicated place. There are good people and there are bad people. There are people that try to interfere in others' elections, and there are people who actually just say, "You know what? We believe in sovereignty for everybody, and that's what we support."
(23:58)
For example, there were people in the Ukrainian system who were campaigning with Democrats literally in the weeks before the presidential election where Donald Trump won very comfortably in November of 2024. So I'm aware of that stuff, but I don't think Victor lets that stuff get to him. I don't let that stuff get to me. We're here to try to solve the problems for the people that we represent. And whatever certain elements within the Ukrainian system think about me or think about anybody else, I really believe it's in the best interest of Ukraine, the best interest of Europe and Hungary, the best interest of the United States for this war to come to as rapid of a close as possible.
(24:35)
The seeds of this war, the seeds of this conflict were actually planted well before the fighting started, and they were planted when European leaders decided that they were going to go so deep into a particular energy economy that they were going to cut themselves off from oil and natural gas that came from the East. That was a huge mistake then, and it's obvious that it's a huge mistake now. And it's funny, when I hear people accuse my president, for example, of being pro-Russia, my president has done more to help Europe out with energy and liquid natural gas than anybody in the world, which weakens Russia because we would love our allies and our friends to pursue smart energy policies so their consumers can pay less money, but also when, God forbid, there's a conflict, they can rely on us rather than another country for the energy that they need.
(25:24)
So it's so funny to me that very often the very people who accuse that leader of being pro Russia are the very people who created an energy weak economy in Europe to begin with. And that has done more than anything to make Ukraine weak and Russia strong. We just want the killing to stop. We want to get back to commerce. We recognize there's a lot of difficult issues, but the way to solve those issues is to talk to one another and to actually engage in the hardworking diplomacy.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
And Mr. Vice President, two questions. It's your call, please.
JD Vance (25:55):
Sure. So I want to call on a couple members of my pool because they traveled all night and are here with us. So let's start with Natalie at the Washington Post.
Natalie (26:07):
Thank you, Mr. Vice President. The clock is ticking to tonight when the deadline looms for avoiding bombing infrastructure in Iran to the Stone Ages, as the president has said. Do you have any new information to believe that a deal can be reached by then?
(26:24)
And secondly, there's been some rhetoric from this administration, your administration, about this war, God supporting the United States in this war and these strikes against Iran being part of God's will. Do you agree with that? And what do you make of the idea that God is on the side of the U.S. in these strikes?
JD Vance (26:43):
Well, so you asked if there's new information, unless I have a text message from Steve ... Well, I do have a text message from Steve Witkoff. Wouldn't you like to know the subject of this message? But no, I need to read it first before I talk about it.
JD Vance (27:00):
What time is it in the United States right now?
Speaker 5 (27:00):
It's [inaudible 00:27:03]
JD Vance (27:03):
Okay, that makes sense. All right. Okay. So Natalie, on this question of the deal, I really think there are two pathways. The president's been very clear about this. There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives. There are still some things that we'd like to do, for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons that we'd like to do a little bit more work on militarily, but fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed. So that means, as the president has said, very shortly this war is going to conclude. And I think the nature of the conclusion is ultimately up to the Iranians. I think there really are two pathways.
(27:40)
And I'm oversimplifying this a little bit, but I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they're going to be a normal country. They're not going to fund terrorism anymore. They're going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange. And that's going to mean much better things for them economically. It's going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It's going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That's option A. Option B is that the Iranians don't come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel, but of course their Arab neighbors too. Then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad, and frankly, it will probably get worse.
(28:19)
And so what the president has asked his entire team to do, particularly Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, is to figure out what are the contours of a potential deal? What are they willing to do? Because militarily, it frankly doesn't matter one way or the other to us. It's fundamentally a question of what does this look like afterwards? And that has been what the negotiation's been focused on. And the president's also been very clear that while the Iranians are trying to exact as much economic costs through the Straits of Hormuz, the United States has the ability to extract much greater economic costs on Iran than Iran has an ability to extract costs on us or on our friends in the world. So I hope that they're smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now in the United States. We're going to find out. But there's going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I'm hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.
(29:08)
The second question you asked about, "Is God on our side? Is God on whose side?" I think my attitude towards military conflict has always been to pray that we are on God's side. And my own view is that we are doing this for the right reasons. We're doing this because we don't want a regime that is committed acts of terrorism to have the world's most dangerous weapon, because that would mean a lot of innocent people dead. I certainly hope that God agrees with the decision that Iran shouldn't have a nuclear weapon, but I'll keep praying about it. And if he gives me a good answer, you'll be the first to know, Natalie. Next question. Let's see, I think we have Reuters and AP. Let's do Reuters. Okay, good. I checked my earpiece to see if somebody in my staff would tell me who I should call on, but nobody answered. This is just Hungarian. So go ahead.
Sonit Apum (30:09):
Thank you, Mr. Vice President. This is Sonit Apum from Reuters. I have a couple of questions. I do think you have to read that text because we have reporting that the United States is striking some targets in Kharg Island. You did say that the military objectives of this war have been achieved. So could you help us understand why the president is still threatening to attack every bridge and every power plant in Iran? You also said that this will wrap up soon, but yesterday in his press conference, when he was asked about a timeline, he did not give a specific timeline and he had said four to six weeks and we're now in week six. Do you have a specific timeline? Excuse me. These are spontaneous questions.
JD Vance (30:55):
That's a lot of questions.
Sonit Apum (30:56):
Okay, I'll stop. I mean, the Hungary question is this, if Prime Minister Orbán loses, does the United States commits to working with the new leader? Will you have a golden age relationship with the new leader? Thank you so much.
JD Vance (31:11):
Well, of course we're going to work with whoever wins the Hungarian election because we love the people of Hungary and it's an important relationship, but Viktor Orbán is going to win the next election in Hungary, so I feel very confident about that-
Prime Minister Orbán (31:21):
That's right.
JD Vance (31:22):
... and that our continued positive relationship ... Viktor, is that right?
Prime Minister Orbán (31:25):
That's the plan.
JD Vance (31:26):
Okay. All right. So you asked about Kharg Island. My understanding having talked to Pete and General Caine about this, is that we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island. I believe we have done so. The president's deadline has been followed by us and everybody else. And he said very clearly, "We're not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don't make a proposal," but he's given them until Tuesday at 8:00. So I don't think the news on Kharg Island represents a change in strategy or represents any change from the President of the United States.
(32:01)
He continues to say the deadline is 8:00, and the deadline is for what? Fundamentally, what Iran is trying to do because they've been defeated militarily, is they're trying to extract as much economic pain on the world as possible. And the President of the United States is a man who recognizes leverage, that if the Iranians want to exact a certain amount of pain, the United States has the ability to exact much, much greater pain. The president doesn't want to do that. I don't want to do that. That's why we're negotiating so aggressively. But fundamentally, the ball is in the Iranians court. Now, I think the president has talked about this. One thing I will say is that the Iranians, they were not the fastest negotiators before the war started, and they are certainly not the fastest negotiators now. So we recognize there's some delay sometimes in transmitting messages from one person to another, but we feel confident that we can get a response. Whether it's positive or negative, we're going to get a response from the Iranians by 8:00 tonight.
(32:57)
I hope they make the right response because what we really want is, we want a world where oil and gas is flowing freely, where people can afford to heat their homes and cool their homes, where people can afford to transport themselves to work. That's not going to happen if the Iranians are engaged in acts of economic terrorism. So they've got to know we've got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven't decided to use. The President of the United States can decide to use them and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don't change their course of conduct. I think that's it. Yes, sir.
Moderator (33:34):
Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Vice President. So that concludes our press conference. Thank you very much for being with us, and goodbye.
Prime Minister Orbán (33:40):
Thank you [inaudible 00:33:47]
JD Vance (33:40):
[inaudible 00:33:43]