We live in a world of transgressors. The given word has no more weight. I promise something and do the opposite. I’ll shake hands with him, let him believe that the gentlemen’s agreement can replace the text on paper, and then I’ll do with him what I want.
I cannot assume that the prime minister of Hungary is so foolish as to have baselessly led his people to believe that the American president exempted Hungary from the energy sanctions imposed on the Russians. And he did this indefinitely, definitively. Viktor Orbán is smarter than to kick such an own goal.
I think it’s more likely that he was so intoxicated by his admiration for Trump that he forgot the prudence that is essential in diplomacy. When the word goes away, the writing remains. Otherwise, it could not have happened that the White House responded to the confident statement “we have protected the overheads, energy remains the cheapest in Hungary” with what is known in the Hungarian language as the phrase “stop the march…”.
It is true that only one White House official was entrusted with the announcement that the exemption is valid for one year, and he even spoke anonymously. (Is there anything more humiliating than this after shaking hands with the American president and the Hungarian prime minister?) But then, it can hardly be assumed that he would have expressed an opinion on his own beard in such a far-reaching matter!
Now there is silence in Buda Castle. A cold shower is a mild expression to convey the feeling of the cabinet being frozen. Phone calls are being made from Budapest to Washington, but they either do not pick up, or they say that they cannot connect those who witnessed the handshake following the gentlemen’s agreement at the White House meeting on Friday. “Redemption” is awaited, but will it come?
Mr. Prime Minister!
You weren’t careful enough! You forgot about the historic breach of promise that America committed in Malta against the former Soviet Union in 1989. George Bush promised Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand one iota to the East! They shook hands then as well, and then the Americans cheated the Russians just like you are now. They moved to the East and annexed the former socialist countries one after the other. This is how we became members of NATO. It’s just that while you are happy about the breach of word that led to our country becoming a member of NATO, I am not happy about it. I am convinced that neutrality would be the best for our people and our nation. Because the conditions of sometimes belonging here and sometimes there prevent us from living in peace and good relations with both the East and the West. This is what we need, this is what we need the most!
What are you going to do now if we really only got an exemption from importing Russian energy carriers for one year? What do you want to replace reliable and cheap Russian energy with? What will happen here if energy security ceases? Have you ever thought about the way out of this dead end?
I wish you, as it is in our national interest, that your efforts are directed towards the creation of a new European, Eurasian security and cooperation system, within the framework of which not only Ukraine can become neutral, but also the sovereignty of our country can no longer be limited by anyone.
~ The author is a journalist, international expert, and president of the Hungarian Community for Peace
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