Below his post, Magyar published a voice recording attributed to the defence minister, recorded in April 2023, talking, among other things, about the government aiming to set up a capable, combat-ready Hungarian army.

"Viktor Orban's government is a government of lies and war. It's over. They must go," Magyar said in his post.

"In this recording, the defence minister admits, in fact, he proudly announces that what they have been preaching about for years is just a stupid lie," the head of the Tisza Party said. "Last year, the presidential pardon scandal made it clear that Orban and his government only protected families and children in words and they were actually the ones supporting pedophile monsters.

Now it turns out that while the government has been talking about protecting Hungarians for years, they are the ones who would be willing to sacrifice the security of their compatriots for money and power. This is not a political mistake. This is a crime. A crime for which there will never be a pardon".

In the recording, the minister talks about the government having decided to set up a strong, capable Hungarian army.

"This means that we are breaking with our peace activities. We know what these are; but we are basically breaking with the peace mentality through a process. It is natural that the process publicly known as rejuvenation is simply the easiest way to change this. Let us break with the peace mentality and move into phase zero of the road to war. I am asking Lieutenant General Gabor Borondi to carry out and implement this. "

Gulyas: 'Recording published by Magyar nothing to write home about'

Commenting on a recording published by the head of the Tisza Party on his Facebook page, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office said it was "nothing out of the ordinary", in the face of an immediate threat of war, what the defence minister was saying was self-evident and the right thing to do.

"In fact, we can all see that this is nothing to write home about. Nothing happened here. A defence minister is saying that the soldiers must defend the country, who else would be talking about this, if not him," Gulyas said.

The Hungarian government has done everything in recent years for peace, but soldiers must prepare for war and the defence of the country, not peace, he said.

The difference is that while the previous chief of staff, Gulyas said, referring to Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, who has taken up a role in Tisza, wants to defend Ukraine and deploy soldiers to Ukraine, the defence minister and the Hungarian military must defend Hungary, he added.

Gulyas also noted that the Hungarian prime minister talked about the need for a joint European defence force well before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

"We were the ones who recognised that there was a major change taking place in the world, the threat of war was getting greater than before, and if somebody must prepare for this, it was the military," he said.

Meanwhile, Magyar: Tisza supports solidarity with Ukraine, rejects fast-tracking EU accession

The Tisza Party supports solidarity with Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, but does not agree with fast-tracking Ukraine's accession to the European Union, party leader Peter Magyar said in an open letter to Manfred Weber, the president of the European People's Party.

Ukraine is currently fighting a war and facing significant challenges in governance, the rule of law and economic stability, Magyar said in the letter. He said that the most important task was to broker a ceasefire and peace.

A consistent and fair implementation of the EU accession rules is key to the EU's credibility, Magyar said. Prospective member states must be assessed according to equal standards, he said.

Magyar said that those considerations and "a public conversation with Hungarians" had prompted the party to commit to holding a "binding national referendum on Ukraine's EU accession at the right time, when all requirements to the accession are clear."

Prime Minister "Viktor Orban and his propaganda are spreading ridiculous lies" on the matter, Magyar said. Tisza is sticking to the stance that now is not the time to discuss Ukraine's accession, and Hungarians will have to have the right to decide on the country's official stance once the issue is on the agenda, he said.

He noted that Tisza MEPs had not attended the EPP's congress in Valencia and so they had not supported the declarations announced there."All statements to the contrary lack any basis."

Tisza remains committed to its stance, "guided by honesty, democratic participation and the long-term interests of Hungary and the EU," he said.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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