Weidel to Orbán: You are a role model for us

"There is a certain piquancy to this meeting. The AfD is not a party whose leader is received by prime ministers in all countries. But it is high time for that to change" Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a joint press conference with Alice Weidel, the leader of the German far-right AfD party, noting that he was the one who had invited Weidel. The press conference was held at the former Carmelite Monastery in Buda, which now houses the offices of the Prime Minister and his staff.

Shortly before the press conference, the Hungarian PM posted two photos of them on X with the comment: "Today I met the future of Germany. It was an honour to welcome you in Budapest, Chairwoman!"

Viktor Orbán spoke first, saying that

it is in Hungary's interest that Germany is successful, and he hopes that AfD can contribute to this. “All of AfD's important agenda points are ones that would benefit Hungary, starting with migration, all the way to energy policy.”

There are hundreds of thousands of Hungarian citizens who have a German connection in their family, the Prime Minister said, underscoring the close ties between Hungary and Germany. "If everything AfD stands for were to be implemented, that would be good for Hungary," Orbán said. He also said that their talks, which preceded the press conference, focused on energy policy and migration.

According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, "the EU is in serious trouble, and its current policies will not allow it to be put on a path to growth. The Green Deal is dead," Orbán said. "It should be forgotten", because it leads to high energy prices which is something our competitors don't have to deal with. Energy sanctions must be lifted, Orbán said. He said the EU's energy policy is a mistake and that nuclear energy should be promoted instead of the Green New Deal. He also called for the reopening of the routes of energy supply that had been closed due to the war in Ukraine. Orbán stated that we have already suffered the consequences of the EU's misguided economic policies in recent years, but the worst is yet to come.

According to him there is a shortage of democracy in the EU, because the EU is trying to create policies that go against the interests of the people. He said this is proven by the fact that people clearly do not want migration, but the EU supports it.

Switching to the subject of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Hungarian politician said that "Hungary is the only country in Europe that has been for peace from the very beginning. We consider this a bad war," Orbán said. In his opinion, “by supporting Ukraine, the EU has invested in a hopeless war” and he added that he welcomes the fact that "the United States has now also become pro-peace", and that US President Donald Trump also wants to pursue a pro-peace agenda. The Hungarian Prime Minister did not mention that it was Russia that started the war against Ukraine.

"We have to work on making Hungary strong, if there is an EU, then that way, but even if there is no EU, then that way, he said without elaborating on why he raised the possibility of an EU without Hungary in his statement.

Weidel: “You are a role model for us”

Alice Weidel began her speech by thanking Viktor Orbán from the bottom of her heart for receiving her after she had contacted him. She said Hungarians should be proud of their beautiful Budapest and Hungary – and Germany aspires to experience what Hungarians are living out in Hungary.

Weidel said that today's Germany is weak and the German economy is weak. She believes that the German state's misguided energy policy is to blame for the country's economic ruin. The German state has lost control over immigration and the German government has caused a lot of damage to many countries, including Hungary.

Weidel said that because of migration, Germany has seen an increase in crime and has the highest taxes and contributions among industrialised countries. She explained that they want a proud Germany. "You have achieved that," she said of Hungary. She said they see Hungary as a symbol of independence and sovereignty. "You are a role model for us," she told Orbán.

"Thank you for your sensible politics, for fighting for the freedom of nations. We are happy to follow you on this path,"

Weidel said, concluding her short speech.

The reporter of the Hungarian public television asked Weidel about migration policy and the EU's punishment of Hungary. In her answer, the German politician said that these punishments are very harmful and that Hungary was right not to let migrants in. According to Weidel, their goal is to close the borders within the EU in order to stop migration. She said that if they come to power, they will withdraw from the European asylum system.

Commenting on this, Viktor Orbán said that Hungary is a country of 10 million people, Germany has a population of 84 million, and added that in view of this, the Hungarian government should be cautious about giving advice to Germany. However, the PM said he would still venture to do so on the subject of migration:

"If we had given in to the pressure that the Germans and Brussels had put on us back then…if we had carried out the instructions they gave us, we would now look like Germany in terms of migration," Orbán said, adding that there is still a lot of pressure on Hungary from Germany because of the Hungarian policy of keeping migrants out. "No matter what Berlin and Brussels do," Hungary will not budge on migration, Orbán said, apologising to Weidel each time he criticised Berlin.

Why now?

There was one public obstacle to a relationship with AfD," before. Namely, that "it is crucial for Hungary to have a good relationship with the German government of the day, regardless of its makeup." AfD, which is EU-sceptic and is seen as extremist, was politically quarantined in Germany, meaning that a relationship with them could have worsened relations between the Hungarian and German governments.

"I cannot damage inter-state interests for the sake of party relations," Orbán said. But change is here now, "AfD is the future".

"If a ruling elite is not willing to side with the people, then if a party comes along that does side with the people, then the future belongs to that party." And since AfD already has the support of 20 percent of Germany's 80 million people, (which is twice as much as the population of Hungary), making contact was justified, Orbán said.

Orbán went on to elaborate that until recently, there were two boots sitting on the chest of Hungarians: one was Brussels and the other was the Democratic leadership in the US. The latter is now gone, so Hungarians are breathing a sigh of relief.

He commented that it had become clear that the previous US leadership had supported the government's enemies in Hungary, and added that they will now be putting an end to this.

According to him, Donald Trump's presidency has changed the way the world thinks in six ways. These are:

• migration is bad;
• war is bad;
• the Green Deal is bad;
• Christianity represents value;
• the mockery of the family is over;
• political correctness is wrong. Instead, the age of free speech has come.

"The problem is that EU leaders and the EU institutions have been sitting like cowardly rabbits in the field, waiting for their fate." They are waiting to see what the US president will do. "This is the worst possible thing they could do. The US president is the kind of person who will come in and do things that will make us sweat," he said unexpectedly, voicing some criticism that under Donald Trump, the US could be a tougher partner than it was under the previous president. However, in the end, this was not criticism directed at the Republican president, who he believes is acting naturally in his own way. The criticism was directed at the EU, which should be proactive and make proposals, “not wait for an attack like a rabbit in the furrow.”

According to Orbán, "the European institutions cannot be taken seriously and there are only two countries that could act together in the EU. “The Germans and the French. If they provide Europe with leadership, then there will be leadership, if they don't, then there will be no leadership. There is no mercy for the weak.”

Alice Weidel pointed out that the basis for international cooperation is discussion and negotiation, and that she and Orbán have met in order to change this. Weidel agrees with Orbán that Europe's most important problem is that it has no leader. According to her, there is currently no strong leadership in either France or Germany. The Scholz government has governed against the people's interests and has failed to provide stable leadership because of internal differences.

Weidel also claimed that they are the only party in Germany that has continuously been on the side of peace ever since the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

What about the future?

When asked how he sees the future of the two countries following the 2025 parliamentary elections, Orbán said that "Hungarians don't have a say" in the German elections. "We hope that Germany will have a government whose economic policy will also serve the interests of the Hungarian economy." He believes the AfD has such a programme. Another hope he has is that the new government will be one that will "take the boot of Brussels off our necks." Because "until now, the Germans have tolerated, I’m not saying that they supported it, ... but they tolerated us being treated in Brussels in a clearly discriminatory way." Orbán would like this to stop, but said everything else is now up to the Germans.

Reuters asked Weidel what she thought of Hungary's family policy. Weidel said that her party is not on the far right, that is just something that the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution stamped on them. As she sees it, this office wants to exclude them from the equal competition between parties, which is unconstitutional.

According to Weidel, the AfD sees the traditional family as a model to be followed, because most people are brought up in such a family. Weidel then said that she considers herself a liberal and mentioned that she lives with a woman with whom she has two sons. She said that family is where there are children. She added that it is people who have no children who should be asked why they are talking about families. As an example, she mentioned that Angela Merkel never had children.

Weidel then went on to say that she would like everyone to be able to live as they want without the state being able to have any say in it.

"She is a political leader and a freedom fighter", Orbán complimented Weidel in conclusion, noting that "all candidates for the post of chancellor are welcome". The date for today's meeting – ten days before the German elections – was picked by Weidel, but Orbán said he would have been ready to receive the head of AfD even on the day before the elections. This way, however, he can be among the first in line and will not have to be one of the many waiting to congratulate her.