Final Word from Monday, July 8, 2024

Five weeks before Viktor Orbán left on peacemaking missions to Kyiv and Moscow, he told XTV of Prague that the decisive negotiations to end the war in Ukraine must be on the level of the United States and Russia, because these two countries will decide on a new security framework for Europe. If Donald Trump had won the U.S. presidential elections in 2020, Orbán said, there wouldn't have been a war, and if Trump returns, a ceasefire can be quickly agreed. But if Joe Biden wins, Orbán said, we should pray, because the one who got the U.S. into the war can't get it out. Orbán's Czech partner in the new Patriots for Europe political group, Andrej Babiš of ANO, had followed Orbán in expressing strong support for Trump even before Biden's debate with Trump on June 27. Babiš told TV Prima that he hopes Trump wins the election on Nov. 5 and then ends the war. So Patriots for Europe should be seen as more than just a faction in the EU Parliament; it's also Trump's advance team for Europe. [ Czech Republic Democratic Party Republican United States European Union CNN Prima News Russia Ukraine Hungary ]