The war in Ukraine was already in full swing when Orbán said that a sovereign and independent Ukraine was in Hungary's interest

"Can Ukraine be independent and sovereign without preserving its territorial integrity?" – a journalist asked Viktor Orbán in December 2022, on one of the rare occasions when the prime minister was there for the government's press briefing.

"No. It can't be. Only if it has territorial integrity," Orbán replied.

The journalist had asked the question because shortly before, at the same briefing, Viktor Orbán had outlined four basic principles regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. He said that the first basic principle was that "when it comes to Ukraine, it should be said that the existence of an independent and sovereign Ukraine is also in Hungary's national interest".

(Our readers who speak Hungarian may watch the recording here. Orbán talks about the basic principles starting at 26:11, and it is in the 48th minute that he says that without territorial integrity there can be no sovereign Ukraine.)

In other words, in December 2022, the Hungarian Prime Minister said that it is in Hungary's national interest for Ukraine to be independent and sovereign, and when answering another question, he essentially acknowledged that this can only happen if Ukraine enjoys territorial integrity.

It follows directly from what the Prime Minister said in December 2022 that if Ukraine loses territory as a result of the Russian invasion, it is not sovereign and not independent.

Furthermore, the remaining three principles stated that Hungary was not interested in the permanent separation of the European and Russian economies, and that the government would try to save what can be salvaged from the Russian-Hungarian economic cooperation. He also said it was a basic premise that Hungary did not want to be drawn into the war, but "we want to give Ukraine the help that the principle of humanity requires". His fourth basic point was that it was wrong for the EU to negotiate financial aid to Ukraine in a package.

The statements made at the government briefing more than two years ago are worth recalling because Orbán's recent remarks suggest that one of the fundamentals he previously described as being in Hungary's national interest is no longer considered important.

In his annual State of the Nation address in February, Viktor Orbán said, "And finally, there is the issue of Ukraine. And I'm not talking about the war, but about that which comes after it. The war is running its course towards its conclusion. In reality, the war is not really about Ukraine, it is about bringing the territory called Ukraine, which has been a buffer zone, a buffer state between NATO and Russia, under the supervision of NATO.

Why European and American liberals thought that the Russians would idly stand by and watch this happen is still a mystery. What is clear is that the experiment has failed. Ukraine, or what remains of it, will again be a buffer zone. It's not going to be a member of NATO."

Many have deduced from these words that Orbán does not consider Ukraine a state. If so, this is in complete contradiction to the view he expressed in December 2022, when he said it was in Hungary's national interest to have a sovereign Ukraine.

However, the Prime Minister's political director, Balázs Orbán did not interpret the Prime Minister's statement made in his annual speech as meaning that Orbán does not consider Ukraine a state. In his view, the PM was referring to the fact that Ukraine is seen as a sphere of interest (territory) by the major powers, which is a key factor in political thinking. According to Balázs Orbán, even if one does not agree with this, it is nevertheless the logic followed by the major powers.

What is even more significant is that Orbán has been supporting Donald Trump, who evidently has no interest whatsoever in Ukraine's territorial integrity. It then follows that Trump has no interest in an independent and sovereign Ukraine. However, according to Viktor Orbán's statement from December 2022, this is something which is in Hungary’s national interest.