On the way to Brussels for the European Council summit, Prime Minister Orbán warned that despite a long and diverse agenda, the coming days will be defined by a single, decisive question: war or peace.

It will be a volatile summit, with long-lasting consequences. Hungarian PM Orbán draws a clear distinction between those advocating continued military and financial aid to Ukraine and those calling for restraint.

Hungary, he emphasized, belongs to the latter group. “We say that no strategic decisions should be taken now,” the prime minister said, arguing that the EU should support ongoing American peace efforts and wait for the outcome of U.S.-Russian negotiations rather than making irreversible commitments.

A particularly contentious issue is the future of frozen Russian assets. PM Orbán explained that until recently, the continuation of asset freezes required unanimous approval by member states every six months, allowing Hungary to express its opposition. He said this legal framework has now been unlawfully altered, removing unanimity and Hungary’s veto rights.

The prime minister described this as a clear breach of EU law and announced that Hungary will pursue legal action.

PM Orbán also warned that confiscating Russian assets and transferring them to Ukraine would amount to an open act of war. “This cannot be interpreted in any other way than as a declaration of war,” he said, adding that Russia would inevitably respond. He revealed that he had recently written a letter to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, asking whether potential retaliatory measures would take into account how individual EU member states voted.

According to PM Orbán, the response made clear that strong countermeasures would follow and that voting behavior would be considered. Hungary, he stressed, has made its position unmistakable and will never support the confiscation of any country’s foreign exchange reserves under any circumstances.