Nato should join US to end Iran war before global crisis hits: Experts

One of Europe's longest-serving leaders, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has urged that Nato alliance should join the US to end the war with Iran as soon as possible. He believes the war could trigger a new crisis and a fresh wave of refugees into Europe.

As the war in Iran is deepening, one of Europe's longest-serving leaders has weighed in with a blunt assessment of what might lie ahead. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Nato should back the US in ending the conflict swiftly, warning that any delay could spiral into a wider crisis with far-reaching consequences for Europe and the world.

Orban, who has been the PM of Hungary since 2010, made the remarks in an interview with journalist Mario Nawfal. His statement comes even as the Nato alliance is divided over the war in Iran, as well as Trump's sabre-rattling over the Greenland.

The veteran leader, who started out as an anti-Soviet activist and and briefly held power from 1998 to 2002, framed the conflict as a high-stakes gamble with profound consequences for Europe, particularly smaller nations like Hungary. "To go in, it's easy. To get out is almost impossible," Orban said, drawing on his experience witnessing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier, when the war began, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte had been the most vocal in praising US and Israeli military action against Iran. He called it "really important" for degrading Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities and suggested individual allies could "enable" US efforts.

Nawfal, a geopolitical observer himself, has previously that Nato should support reopening the Strait of Hormuz out of reciprocity.

However, other leaders, such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have emphasised that this is not Europe's war, and rejected direct military involvement or Nato's role in the Strait of Hormuz.

Orban's opinion, however, has been different. He described the war as a product of what he described as the emerging "new world order", where liberal global governance has receded, and major powers now openly pursue their national interests.

"The Iran war is a consequence of the New World Order. Previously, the national interest was not common at all. But now big powers play an important role, and they act in their national interest. And that's what the US is doing," he explained.

He argued that the Islamic Republic of Iran was "the centre of a violent, anti-Semitic, anti-freedom network", suggesting that destroying its paramilitary capacity could advance peace.

However, he cautioned that failure to achieve this quickly could lead to "an even bigger, complicated, longer war".

WAR WILL RAISE ENERGY PRICES, SEND IRANIAN MIGRANTS TO EUROPE

Orban identified two primary threats to Europe and his country: rising energy prices, and a wave of migration as a result of a prolonged war with Iran.

With Iran's 90 million inhabitants and existing Afghan refugees straining Europe, Orban warned that destabilisation could send migrants through Turkey and the Balkans toward Hungary's borders.

Europe's earlier migration challenges, like the 2015 EU refugee crisis, which saw 1.3 million refugees, mostly from the Middle East, has already left many nations "in deep, deep trouble" regarding identity and social cohesion, he noted.

Energy vulnerability compounds the risk. As a landlocked nation poor in raw materials, Hungary suffered a 10 billion Euro economic hit when energy import costs surged during the Russia-Ukraine war. A renewed oil price spike from disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz would deliver another blow. "These are the main challenges, not how to reorganise the Middle East," Orban said bluntly. "That's very nice, but that belongs to the big guys."

CALLS FOR NATO SOLIDARITY, NARROW WINDOW FOR SUCCESS IN IRAN

Despite his reservations about getting Budapest involved in foreign wars, Orban advocated support for the US effort. He suggested that Nato should back Trump's approach to help end the war quickly, not out of ideological alignment but reciprocity, after what he described as decades of American security provision to Europe.

Orban's remarks come at a time when Nato is once again divided over matters related to the US, the second such schism in recent months. The alliance itself was on the verge of tearing itself apart, with Denmark's public broadcaster DR reporting that a month before the US went into a full-fledged war with Iran, Danish forces were preparing for a possible American invasion of Greenland. They were ready to blow up key airport runways to prevent US aircraft from landing and had even carried blood supplies to treat wounded soldiers.

Orban emphasised, "If this war ends fast, it will look like a success. If not, it becomes a disaster." He acknowledged his own long friendship with Trump, even as he said that the US President represents a break from a "tired, boring" Western elite lacking new ideas.

As the conflict in Iran continues, with the US extending pauses on further strikes, Orban's call for swift resolution and allied support shows that the stakes are high not just for the Middle East but for the whole world.

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