Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “share a true friendship,” according to Zoltán Kovács, a senior adviser to Orbán and secretary of state for public diplomacy and relations.
“There is a strong bond between the two men, and I believe it was long overdue for Mr. Netanyahu to visit Hungary and discuss these important issues,” he told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Wednesday ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary.
This will be Netanyahu’s first visit to Europe since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Israel-Hamas War.
Netanyahu would not be arrested upon arrival, because Hungary will not cooperate with the court on this matter, Kovács said.
“The decision itself is outrageous,” he said, adding that it effectively denies Israel’s right to self-defense.
“International organizations have been hijacked by the liberal world order, and the ICC is being used as a political weapon – a witch hunt.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orbán has occasionally taken positions that differ from the European Union’s stance on the war. US President Donald Trump has been working to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine, and Hungary fully supports his initiative, Kovács said.
“We believe that calling for peace and an immediate cessation of hostilities is in Ukraine’s best interest,” he told the Post. “We have been advocating for this approach for nearly three years, right from the very first moment.”
In response to criticism that Hungary’s position would compromise Ukraine’s security and allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to benefit from the war, Kovács said: “Hungary is a supporter of Ukraine. Let’s not forget that the largest humanitarian-aid effort Hungary has contributed over the past years has been directed toward Ukraine.”
Calling for peace is the “real form of friendship,” because pushing Europe into further wars and sacrificing generations of Ukrainians for a conflict that should never have started was irresponsible behavior, he said.
“Pushing integration into areas where it is impossible, certainly by force, will not help European integration,” he added.
Even before the Ukraine war, Hungary had tensions with the EU, Kovács said.
One of the main points of contention between Hungary and the EU has been the issue of accepting migrants from Syria due to the civil war in the last decade, he said, adding that while the EU opposed Hungary’s decision not to allow migration, many are adopting a similar stance today.
“Hungary has advocated for a common-sense, well-established policy on illegal migration: that it should be stopped because it’s dangerous,” Kovács said. “Illegal migration brings in a different culture and mindset, which is causing problems on the streets of Western European cities, and only the blind could fail to see that.”