BUDAPEST, October 16. /TASS/. Although the European Union is stronger than Russia militarily and economically, it should nevertheless bring Moscow to the negotiating table to reach a new agreement on European security, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

"Today, Europe is much stronger than Russia," Orban told Hungarian minority organizations abroad. "There are maybe 140 million Russians, and the population of the EU countries exceeds 400 million. We are significantly superior to Russia by economy and military budget, with the exception of nuclear potential."

He said that "this strength must be demonstrated at the negotiating table" on a new agreement on security in Europe. "A new European security system must be built, and the issues of armaments and the size of the armed forces of different countries must be clarified. An agreement should be signed on these issues, a control system should be created, because states one after another abandoned previous armaments agreements in the shadow of the war," Orban recalled.

According to him, there are some EU leaders that believe "negotiations [with Russia] will have to be conducted, but not now."

The prime minister also explained that an agreement with Russia on security in Europe is also necessary to prevent an arms race. "Constant spending on armaments is not in Hungary's interests," he said.

About the previous agreement

The Hungarian parliament suspended the country's participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) in 2024. Foreign Ministry Secretary Peter Sztaray said then that the CFE Treaty had played an important role in maintaining the balance of armed forces in Europe, but had "lost its significance due to Russia's withdrawal" from the agreement. In 2023, Russia denounced the treaty, after which the NATO countries said they would suspend their participation indefinitely.

The agreement was signed in 1990, entered into force in 1992, and was amended in 1997. It limited the number of conventional weapons and equipment in five main categories — tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery, attack helicopters and combat aircraft and introduced mechanisms for verifying compliance with obligations — information exchange and inspections.

The North Atlantic Alliance did not ratify the amended version of this document, continuing to adhere to the provisions of 1990, which contained the norms of conventional weapons, taking into account the balance between NATO and the disbanded Warsaw Pact Organization. Russia could not accept such an approach.

In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law denouncing the CFE Treaty. Moscow has repeatedly said that the blame for the termination of the agreement lies with the United States and other NATO countries.