The Prime Minister of Hungary in Dialogue with the East: New Horizons that Strengthen Relations between Doha and Budapest
December 25, 2022, 07:00am
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Qatar World Cup 2022Comprehensive dialogueRussian-Ukrainian warNational Day celebrations 2022Prime Minister of HungaryHungarian relationspolitical interventions
The interview was conducted by the editor-in-chief
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban affirmed that he held fruitful and useful discussions aimed at strengthening relations with Qatar, which would push Qatari-Hungarian relations to new horizons that achieve the interests of the two peoples. He added, in a comprehensive dialogue, that the Qatar World Cup was wonderful, distinguished, global and exceptional in everything, adding that Qatar was able to protect football from slipping into the danger of political interference that threatened the first popular game in the world. He described the malicious campaigns to which the Qatar World Cup 2022 was subjected as an attempt by some to impose their ideas and cultures on others, while logic imposes respect for the cultures and laws of others. He justified these interventions as resulting from perceptions of some that still stem from colonial dimensions that seek to dictate their desires and ideas to other countries, and this is incorrect behavior.

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The Hungarian Prime Minister added that his visit to Qatar enabled him to follow the Qatar World Cup 2022 in the final and semi-final stages, and said that the World Cup was global by all standards and reflected the cultures of the peoples of the world, and this is one of its most prominent advantages. He said that the Qatari-Hungarian relations go back to more than 30 years, and that the opportunities for cooperation are promising in the fields of real estate, tourism and education, noting that his country has launched an initiative to host 25,000 scholarships for students from all over the world and that Qatari students are invited to participate in these scholarships. He described the Russian-Ukrainian war as a tragedy in which no one knows who won, but the loser is undoubtedly known. He said that his country is with the stability of the Middle East because instability in the Middle East represents a serious threat to security and stability in Europe.

The following is the transcript of the interview:

Welcome, His Excellency Mr. Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, to Doha, and we are pleased to host you today in this important dialogue. the National?

It was a wonderful idea when the celebrations of the National Day of the State of Qatar coincided with the conclusion of the World Cup, as the peoples of the world joined the Qatari people in their celebrations on this occasion. I was here when the semi-finals kicked off and then I flew to Brussels and back again to watch the final and got a good impression of the Qatar World Cup. The organization was wonderful and distinguished, and organizing a tournament the size of the World Cup is not only a matter of money, but also requires will, desire and hard work. My personal assessment is that the arrangements have been applied to the highest level of excellence. What distinguishes this hosting and what makes it unique is that it took place in an Arab country, unlike what is customary to host the World Cup in Europe or Latin America.

Global by any measure

The Qatar World Cup was global by all standards, as Morocco emerged as a representative of African and Arab countries, and European teams competed strongly, and Argentina had the floor in the final match, which means that all the peoples of the world had a clear and strong presence in the game, which gave it comprehensiveness and universality. The most important impression that the Qatar World Cup left on me is that you have protected football from slipping into politics. You have preserved football so that it remains a sporting activity that has nothing to do with politics. Unfortunately, politics is constantly trying to interfere with sports, and we in the European Union are suffering from some political interference, especially since Hungary pursues a family support policy. Football is a global game that has nothing to do with politics, and whoever wants to practice politics there are thousands of ways to do so, so let football be far from that. Qatar has rejected all forms of political interference in football, and we appreciate that.

Malicious campaigns and politicization of sports

Your talk about Qatar’s position rejecting the introduction of politics in football makes us ask your opinion about the attempts made by some parties and their endeavor to politicize football and raise slogans related to gay rights and other slogans that have nothing to do with the World Cup?

Everyone needs to understand that the world is different and we have to understand and appreciate this difference so that we can cooperate and work on organizing joint events as is the case in football without seeking to impose our views on others. We have in Europe a political current that still lives with a colonial mentality that tends to determine the way other peoples of the world live. And because cultures are different from each other, this behavior is incorrect. My political experience is long, more than thirty years, and I have experience and qualifications in international relations, and I believe that the most important thing behind politics is culture. Therefore, the multiculturalism that we see leads to different political orientations, and it is not right for any party to claim that its political orientation is the correct one, and that the world should follow it.

As Europeans, we have differences. It is true that we have common values, but there are also differences. Politics in the West is led by ideology and developed by intellectuals. They love to develop new ideas, and they sometimes seek to impose their ideas on the rest of the world, and this is not good for the peoples of the world. For example, when we visit London, which is one of the most important advocates of rights in the world, and we find that traffic is moving on the left, we cannot tell them that we do not want to drive on the left, we have to follow their laws and vice versa. There is an old European proverb, more than two thousand years old, that says: (If you are in Rome, do what the people of Rome do). Football is not only a sporting competition, but rather a culture, civilization and meeting between peoples. Look at the final between Argentina, it brings together multiple cultures, Latino, European and African, and this is what makes people love football.

The most important results of your visit to Qatar

We want to know the most important results of the discussions that I held with His Highness the Emir and His Excellency the Prime Minister in order to strengthen the Qatari-Hungarian relations, just as yesterday you were presented with the emblem of the Qatar national team?

Our relations with Qatar go back more than 30 years, and since 1999 I have been in contact with the State of Qatar by virtue of my position in the Hungarian government. I always seek to strengthen these relations, and the officials in Qatar are well aware of what is required of them in developing relations and pushing them forward in the interest of the two peoples. There are encouraging opportunities for real estate investment in Hungary in addition to our great tourism resources and our heritage in culture.

Cooperation in education and scientific research

What is the nature of cooperation in the fields of education, training and scientific research? And what has been achieved in the last period?

We have a very big initiative in education, and we hope that the State of Qatar will participate in it. It is an initiative through which more than 25,000 scholarships will be launched for students from countries of the world in Asia, Africa and Arab countries to study in Hungary.

How does the Hungarian government view problems and challenges in the region and the world, such as the Palestinian issue and others? What are the proposed solutions to it?

Our vision in Hungary is that stability is very important to the region and that instability is a threat not only to the region, but even to Europe, because wars lead to an influx of refugees into Europe and thus increase the suffering of these countries. During Trump’s term, the United States put forward an initiative to solve problems in the Middle East and the Palestinian issue in order to achieve peace and stability among the countries of the region. As you know, Hungary is not an influential country in this aspect, as the major countries play a major role in that.

The Russian-Ukrainian crisis

What is Hungary’s vision for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and mitigating its repercussions on Europe and the world?

The Russian-Ukrainian war is certainly of concern to Hungary, and what is happening is a tragedy, and no one knows who will win the war, but we know who is the loser for sure. Thousands die every year, and no one knows what the goals of this war are or how to stop it. It is a tragedy for families who pay the price of this war and do not know how to get rid of it.

It is difficult to separate human feelings in this war.. There is no doubt that war is bad.

I have always been cautious about the decisions of NATO’s expansion towards the east, and I remember that the first decision to expand NATO took place during the NATO summit in 2008 in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, when a decision was issued for Georgia’s accession to the alliance, and six months later Russia invaded Georgia, and today the same thing is happening. in Ukraine. And when you make a decision, it must be preceded by a dialogue to prevent the dangers of war. Unfortunately, the dialogue that preceded this decision was weak. I was in Moscow three weeks before the war and our relations with Russia are good and we have good trade in energy and gas. And this war affects Hungary because we are a continental country that has no sea outlet, and when the war breaks out, of course, we will suffer a lot from it, because land transport and gas pipelines are the only solution for us to import our needs. We also have some legacies from the former communist rule, which led to the weakness of some sectors and companies, which made them unable to assist in investment, trade and commodity exchange.

Ukraine is the only country that calls for peace, not war, and our position is good, and we call for a cease-fire and peace. And we want a good strategy that helps in obtaining gas at reasonable prices, because production in Europe is high, and therefore we do not want this war.

There is no comparison

Finally.. Why did you describe the visit as fruitful, useful and successful?

The visit was successful and useful, and I will come back again to complete what we started before. I met officials in Qatar and they visited us in Hungary 7 years ago. I had previous discussions with His Highness the Emir and His Highness the Father Emir. I was here in Doha in 2007 and noticed the great development that took place in the country, as there is no comparison.

In conclusion, I congratulate you once again on what has been achieved in this World Cup, which is a great achievement. Many things happened that surpassed the previous World Cup, especially the closing ceremony, which was wonderful by all standards. I am interested in sports and I have the Puskas Sports Academy in Hungary. I visited the Aspire Academy and we seek cooperation with them to develop sports. In this capacity, I am a guest of FIFA in Qatar.