2024-04-19 20:55:00
“We have to settle in Brussels”
Orban divides and insists on a change of course in Europe
April 19, 2024, 10:55 pm
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The Hungarian Fidesz party is organizing election campaigns in Budapest to exclude the independent media. Here, Prime Minister Orban launches an all-out attack. It goes against the other EU countries and paints a dark picture of the future of Europe.
At the start of his party’s European election campaign, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for a changing of the guard in Europe. At a Fidesz party event in the capital Budapest, the right-wing nationalist spoke out against the EU and, among other things, took aim at the attitude of most EU states towards the war in Ukraine.
“They see the war as their own, and they fight as if it were their own war,” he told other European Union leaders. “The leadership in Brussels has to go,” he said. “She does not deserve another chance. There must be change in Brussels.”
Orban has his own problems
Ahead of the European Parliament elections in June, Hungary’s head of government faces serious challenges at home and abroad. In his own country, leading politicians are struggling to recover from scandals and a struggling economy as the EU freezes billions in funds for Hungary. The reason for concern is because of the rule of law and corruption in the country.
The event of the election campaign in Budapest lasted only about 45 minutes. The independent media were excluded. Orban’s speech, which took a good third of the time, mainly dealt with topics he has focused on for years: the rejection of immigration, a hostile attitude towards LGBTQIA rights and the thesis that the EU is trying to impose its will on him. Hungary. “We must occupy Brussels, push aside the Brussels bureaucrats and take matters into our own hands,” he said to applause.
Criticism of solidarity with Ukraine
The nationalist, who has ruled his country for 14 years, has criticized governments that provide money or weapons to Ukraine in defense against Russia. Hungary has rejected such support and has also taken a stand against EU sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Orban described countries that support Ukraine as pro-war countries and tried to single out his government as the only one in the EU that is pro-peace. However, many of his critics accused him of advancing Russian interests by expanding energy deals with Moscow and delaying aid packages to Ukraine.
At the end of his speech, Orban revealed his party’s “election manifesto”, which accepts the rise of right-wing forces in the EU. If the current EU leadership remains in office, “Europe will be plunged into war, waves of migration will destroy European nations and gender propaganda will destroy the future of our children,” the manifesto says. The EU elections will take place from June 6th to June 9th.
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