(LifeSiteNews) — During a recent trip with my children to Vienna, Austria, we were able to interview Stefan Beig, who as of recently worked for one of the largest Austrian internet news outlets, Exxpress.at.

In that capacity, he has conducted interviews on foreign policy matters with experts such as veteran U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh and LifeSiteNews collaborator and political analyst Jack Maxey. He also interviewed European politicians such as the Hungarian Foreign Minister. LifeSite interviewed him with the intent of presenting to our readers a European perspective on the current war in Ukraine.

It became clear in our conversation that was filmed by my children Isabella and Robby that there are many people in Central Europe who wish to find a way to carry out negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, for the sake of ending the war.

Referring to the position of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Beig says that the European perspective “is actually quite simple. They say: ‘We in Europe are suffering the most, because of this war we are suffering. It can only be ended through negotiations. So, conclusion, let’s negotiate.’”

As of July, Orban himself has undertaken several peace initiatives with Russia and Ukraine. According to Beig, Slovakia is also arguing in similar terms, while Austria, who is not a member of NATO, has remained neutral. These countries in Central Europe, Beig argued, “actually prefer to have good relations with Russia in general.”

Quoting recent polls, Beig stated that “the majority want negotiations,” even though there are also parts of Austria who still remember the time of World War II and are afraid of Russian aggression against Austria. “By flight, it’s more than 700 miles from Austria to Ukraine. It’s not far away.” But the majority in Austria, as well as in Germany, are now in favor of negotiations.

Despite these facts, the published opinion in the media is very different. “I think that the position that we should continue and support Ukraine until it defeats Russia completely in Ukraine,that position is much stronger in the media than among the people,” Beig explained.

The reason for the Europeans’ desire for negotiations, according to the Austrian journalist, comes from the fact that “all of Europe is affected economically” by the war, especially as a result of Europe being heavily dependent on Russia’s energy sector. Austria has also now become the home of a lot of Ukrainian refugees, although this is not as much of a problem due to the fact that the Ukrainians are “Europeans … willing to integrate,” in Beig’s words.

According to Beig, one of Austria’s concerns is that the majority of Austrians do not want to join NATO and that they do not like that NATO is speaking for everybody in Europe in terms that “might bring us closer to war.” On this point, the Austrian added that the head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has talked in such a manner “in spite of the fact that actually NATO should be only defensive.”

“Austrians don’t want an escalation of this war, most definitely,” Beig insisted. “I think what is in the interest of most Austrians is that this war is finished now.” Here, the journalist pointed once more to Orbán, who he paraphrases as saying that the war can only be ended “through negotiations” and that it “cannot be done on the battlefield.” There are also military experts who now say on German TV that Orbán is pessimistic about the Ukraine war and does not think that the Ukrainians will be able to defeat the Russians.

According to Beig, even some Ukrainians themselves wish for an end to the war. When talking to Ukrainians, “they say that actually Ukraine was, should I say, was lost in a higher conflict. It was between NATO and Russia and Ukraine, too weak to speak for itself and to solve also its own problems… Ukraine got lost and is now the one who’s actually suffering the most.”

LifeSiteNews also brought into discussion our recent interview with Colonel Douglas Macgregor who has stated repeatedly that the Ukraine war should be ended, but that there are certain neoconservative forces in the U.S. interested in escalating the conflict.

We are grateful for Mr. Beig’s perspective on the Ukraine conflict presented to us in Austria. May his voice, and that of experts like Colonel Macgregor, be heard, before it is too late.