Italian paper put words in Viktor Orbán's mouth about Trump's Russian sanctions being a mistake – Balázs Orbán says

Following his audience with the Pope and prior to his meeting with Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a brief statement to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in Rome on Monday. As Telex also reported on Monday, according to the newspaper, the Hungarian Prime Minister said that from a Hungarian perspective Trump had made a mistake with the latest sanctions imposed on Moscow, adding that he would soon be meeting with the US president to resolve the issue of oil sanctions.

However, in a social media post on Tuesday, the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Political Director, Balázs Orbán writes:

“La Repubblica has put words in Viktor Orbán's mouth that the Hungarian Prime Minister never said.”

According to him, the newspaper "deliberately misinterpreted" the Prime Minister's statement and created the false impression that the Hungarian leader had called Trump's decision a "mistake" and even said that he would "try to have the sanctions revoked."

According to the political director, what actually happened was the following: the journalist approached Orbán on the street and asked him about the new US sanctions on Russian oil, saying: "Do you think that the new US sanctions on Russian oil are a mistake on Trump's part? Have you spoken to him about this?" In his response, Viktor Orbán made it clear that he would soon be traveling to Washington, where he would – among other things – also discuss the subject of sanctions with the US President. He then said that he was particularly interested in finding a way to “create a viable system for the Hungarian economy, as Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. Without them, prices in the country would skyrocket and there could be serious supply shortages.”

Balázs Orbán considers the misinterpretation of the Prime Minister's words to be a deliberate political manipulation aimed at “turning pro-peace leaders against each other.”

444 has noticed that La Repubblica has since modified the relevant part in the written, edited version of the video interview. According to this, the question previously read: "So did Trump go too far, did he make a mistake?", to which Orbán replied: "From a Hungarian perspective, yes. That is why we are trying to find a way out, primarily for Hungary." By now, however, the phrase "did he make a mistake" is no longer included in the question.

The Hungarian Embassy in Rome also issued a statement in response to the Orbán interview. They wrote that the article published in La Repubblica was based on a video recording of the interview and had been published with an incorrect title, as it "in no way reflects the words of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán." They pointed this out to the newspaper's editor, and the Hungarian embassy requested that the case be investigated and the interview corrected immediately.