Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a show on Tuesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg by calling on the European Union to change its strategy in Ukraine and promising to open the champagne in the event of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
On the eve of a speech to MEPs which promises to be tense, in the middle of a Hungarian presidency of the EU which breaks with all codes, the Hungarian leader displayed – and claimed – his differences with the other leaders of the block.
“There is a profound change underway in Europe,” he said, referring to the growing weight of his allies, after the electoral successes of the far right in Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and the Republic. Czech.
“But what we see are European elites, from the left and the center, who claim to manage European affairs,” he continued. “Some on the left dream of isolating this or that leader, but that will not happen!” he continued, insisting that he did not intend to “leave” the EU but to “change” it.
Since his return to the head of the country in 2010, Viktor Orban has strengthened his grip on power while restricting the rights of oppositions, repeatedly clashing with Brussels over questions of the rule of law.
At the beginning of July, on the second day of Hungary’s six-month presidency of the EU, he embarked on a “peace mission” to kyiv, Moscow and Beijing, arousing the ire of European leaders.
In response, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ordered commissioners to boycott a series of meetings in Hungary, representing themselves only at technical level, a first in the history of European institutions.
“New strategy on Ukraine”
“We need a new strategy on Ukraine,” the Hungarian leader insisted on Tuesday, believing that the current path would lead to defeat. “Hungary’s intention is to focus on a ceasefire (…) We must communicate, directly and indirectly (with Moscow) and all countries in the world should push in this direction.”
The Hungarian Prime Minister also took advantage of his visit to Strasbourg to once again display his closeness to Donald Trump, a great critic of the EU.
If the Republican candidate is elected in the American presidential election on November 5, “we will open lots of bottles of champagne!”, he said.
Recalling that a summit of the leaders of the 27 is planned in Budapest on November 7, two days after the American electoral meeting, Viktor Orban saw it as the ideal moment to look into the program of the real estate magnate, evoking his promise to end the war in Ukraine.
In this context, Wednesday’s exchanges with MEPs should be heated.
“Orban is indeed acting like a real arsonist of the European idea,” said Valérie Hayer, president of the Renew group, describing his parallel diplomacy carried out under the European banner as “unacceptable.” “Its only objective is to set fire to a democratic, liberal and tolerant Europe,” she adds.
In July, the European Commission found in a report that Hungary did not meet EU democratic standards, notably on corruption, political financing, conflicts of interest and media independence.
In the latest episode of the conflict between Budapest and Brussels, the Commission announced on Thursday that it would refer the matter to European justice regarding the Hungarian law on “sovereignty”, which NGOs consider to be a new offensive to muzzle counter-powers.
In September, the EU said it would cut its payments to Hungary to recover 200 million euros in fines for non-compliance with asylum treaties that Budapest refuses to pay. in addition to the 19 billion euros of European funds frozen for attacks on the rule of law.
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