Hungary’s Orbán Demands Europe Should Must Free Itself of Nuclear Weapons

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in an interview today with the Hungarian journal Mandiner, said that European countries, instead of boosting their nuclear arsenals, should get rid of all nuclear weapons on their territory because they create a greater threat of involving Europe in a nuclear war. Commenting on initiatives to create a common European nuclear stockpile, the Hungarian premier cited the work of German politician Klaus von Dohnanyi and his book National Interests: Orientation for German and European Politics in Times of Global Upheaval, which pointed out that Europe has no major nuclear stockpile of its own, and relied instead on U.S. nuclear weapons deployed on its territory. That is why Orbán believes that, should there be a nuclear war between the United States and Russia, the U.S. will launch their strikes from European territory, and, thereby, expose Europe to a retaliatory Russian strike. “Instead of nuclear proliferation, Europe should try to get rid of it,” TASS quoted him as telling Mandiner.