Photo: Facebook/Orbán Balázs
Eurasia
07/07/2023 16:46
"We are in the middle of a Euro-Asian continent, with a unique language and unique culture. While Hungary is in the middle of Europe, it is also like Australia—it is an island surrounded by completely different people," Balázs Orbán explained.
"We identify everyone around us as a friend and potential partner," he stressed, adding that "but if we discover that someone wants to control us in an unacceptable way, we immediately resist." "Hungarians have a strong sense of sovereignty. We don’t want to give up anything which is ours, because we have learned that if we give up then the nation of Hungary can, from one day to another, vanish," the political director stressed.
According to Balázs Orbán, Hungary is interested in connectivity instead of decoupling. "We are in the middle of Euro-Asian trade routes. In terms of energy, we need to import as much as we can. We still depend on European markets, so we need to be able to remain open to benefits from Asia," he explained.
In an op-ed published by National Interest, Balázs Orbán warned that "the West’s dominance over international relations, resting upon three key pillars, is visibly diminishing".
"The first pillar was the West’s longstanding dominant position as the global economic powerhouse for two centuries. The second pillar involved the establishment of institutional bodies in international relations and trade by the West, granting them the ability to shape the rules of globalization. The third pillar relied on the idea that the United States, as the hegemonic superpower after the collapse of the USSR, would collaborate with Europe to promote the neoliberal political and economic model, aiming for a more peaceful world. As the prevailing belief of that era declared, we had reached 'the end of history.' However, all three pillars are now displaying signs of declining influence," he explained.
Balázs Orbán added that "the premises of the third pillar in particular have failed remarkably".
"The imposition of the neoliberal political and economic model not only resulted in alienation from the rest of the world but, paradoxically, brought together its adversaries in increasingly closer cooperation,"
the prime minister's political director stressed.
Balázs Orbán pointed out that "the East has witnessed a remarkable surge in its share of global economic output, at the expense of the West". "Back in 1990, the Western world’s dominance over the world’s economic output was exceeding the 50 percent mark. Fast forward to today, and that figure has drastically decreased to a mere 30 percent," he reminded, adding that
these trends will continue as the center of economic gravity continues to shift further toward the East.