Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s presentation of the Hungarian EU Presidency’s programme in the European Parliament on Wednesday, October 9th, turned into a mud-slinging contest by leftist-liberal parties who used the opportunity to make outrageous, false accusations against the conservative government of Hungary.
Viktor Orbán said his aim was to present the suggestions of his government on ways to “make Europe great again” in areas such as competitiveness, migration, and security, but berated the far-left, centre-left, and liberal members of the European Parliament (EP) for turning the debate into a “party political intifada,” and for attacking Hungary with the usual “left-wing propaganda.”
He also criticised European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for giving a political speech, in which she, too, attacked Hungary and the patriotic parties of Europe instead of being a neutral actor, as the Commission should be. “The debate has gone beyond the bounds of reason and the world of facts,” Viktor Orbán said in conclusion.
The session in Strasbourg started smoothly enough, with the Hungarian prime minister outlining the priorities of the programme of his country’s EU presidency, which began in July and ends in December. He repeated most of the points he made a day earlier at a press conference in Strasbourg, stressing that Europe is in a much more serious situation than it was thirteen years ago, at the time of the last Hungarian presidency.
He presented Hungary’s proposals for improving the competitiveness of Europe, dealing with the migration crisis, protecting the external borders of the EU, speeding up the accession of Western Balkan countries, and strengthening the European defence industry and agriculture. Orbán said the presidency wants to be a constructive, honest mediator in these negotiations and aims to contribute to the “peace, security, and prosperity of the EU.”
Von der Leyen on the warpath
His speech was met with a stinging attack by Ursula von der Leyen who chided Hungary on every level possible. She accused the Hungarian government of discriminating against European companies with its tax system, for “sticking to dirty Russian fuels” while other EU member states were looking to diversify their energy sources, for releasing migrant smugglers out of prison, and for letting in Russian nationals to Hungary without security checks.
She made a not-so-thinly veiled attack on Viktor Orbán’s pro-peace stance with regard to the war in Ukraine, saying that Hungary “blames the invaded, not the invader,” i.e., Russia. “We, Europeans may have different histories and different languages, but there is no European language in which peace is synonymous with surrender,” she said.
The prime minister responded by complaining that the European Commission, which is the guardian of the EU Treaties, and supposed to be a neutral actor in European politics, is suddenly playing a political role, and said that von der Leyen is using the institution as a political tool to attack conservative, patriotic parties in Europe.
Orbán insisted that the European strategy—providing further military assistance to Ukraine—was a failure, as it only prolongs the war and will not bring about the desired Ukrainian victory. He said that in every war, there has to be diplomacy and communication between the warring factions because without it, we will drag ourselves deeper into the conflict and more people will die. He added that Hungary has the right to divert from the mainstream European course on the issue by calling for peace and a ceasefire.
He rejected the false accusation that Hungary’s visa scheme poses a security risk to the border-free Schengen Area, saying that while 7,000 Russians work in Hungary, there are 300,000 Russian citizens in Germany, 100,000 in Spain, and 60,000 in France.
Orbán also called out the hypocrisy of his accusers who criticised Hungary for sticking to Russian gas and oil for its energy needs. The prime minister said that while Hungary was transparent about its dealings with Russia, Western European nations have secretly spent 8.5 billion dollars on Russian oil since the start of the Ukraine war, through Indian and Turkish refineries. In 2023, they bought 44% more Russian oil than the previous year. He also said that the EU’s exports to certain Central Asian countries have risen by one billion dollars per month since the start of the war—meaning certain EU countries were evading EU sanctions this way in order to carry on doing business with Russia.
He rejected the accusation that Hungary had released people smugglers from prison “just like that.” The prime minister emphasised that these foreign migrant smugglers were indeed released, but also deported from the country, with a warning that they would be given an even harsher prison sentence if they ever returned. “We freed Europe of two thousand people smugglers,” he added.
Hypocrisy and lies from leftist-liberal MEPs
Viktor Orbán also had to stand his ground and defend Hungary from the barrage of baseless attacks coming from the leftist and liberal MEPs in Strasbourg.
Manfred Weber, the leader of the centre-right-liberal European People’s Party, for instance, cynically hinted that Orbán had played a part in the invasion of Ukraine, as he had met Russian President Vladimir Putin only days before the attack in 2022. Weber failed to include the fact that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron had done the same—visited Moscow to try and dissuade Putin from launching the invasion. Weber also implied that the Hungarian prime minister was complicit in a missile attack on Ukrainian children a few months ago, as he had met Putin on his peace mission only days earlier.
Orbán also rejected the blatantly false statement by Weber that the prime minister’s conservative Fidesz party lost the European elections in June, reminding the German politician that they had in fact won the elections with 45% of the votes, while Weber’s CDU/CSU alliance only got 30% in Germany.
Socialist and far-left MEPs repeated their usual allegations of a lack of democracy, corruption, and ‘rule of law’ violations in Hungary, with Iratxe García Pérez, leader of the Socialist group, baselessly claiming that there is a lack of rights for LGBT people and a lack of protection for women.
Orbán said MEPs who imposed a cordon sanitaire and stripped the third-largest European group, the Patriots for Europe, of their right to have senior positions within the Parliament, are hypocritical for criticising Hungary, as the Hungarian parliament would never deny committee leadership or vice presidential posts to opposition politicians.
The prime minister rejected the allegation that minorities were being discriminated against, and also emphasised that Hungary has the right to determine its own constitution, which clearly protects families and children, and in which marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman.
He also repeated the EU’s official motto which is “unity in diversity,” and that this should be respected, instead of telling Hungary to follow the EU line on certain policies. “European politics should not be about telling certain people to shut their mouth in the name of unity,” Orbán said.
The prime minister also called it absurd that Ilaria Salis, a Green Italian MEP, who served a prison sentence in Hungary for brutally attacking innocent people in the Hungarian capital as part of a radical leftist militant group, said during the debate that Hungary was a “modern tyranny,” ripe with “racism.” Orbán said it is “absurd that we have to listen to a speech about the rule of law by someone who beat innocent people on the streets of Budapest with batons.”
Orbán was also left baffled by Belgian MEP Sophie Wilmès’ lecture on the rule of law, replying that it was in the heart of the Belgian capital, Brussels, that a right-wing conference was banned by the Belgian authorities.
The prime minister referred to reports by the European Commission that Hungary had complied with EU laws on judicial matters, on public procurement, and that according to a Pew study, people in Hungary were more satisfied with the way democracy is working than many people in other European nations. “It is no wonder that Hungarians regularly honour us with their trust,” said Orbán whose Fidesz party has won four landslide parliamentary elections in a row.
He said that the harsh criticism of his compatriot Hungarian MEPs from the political left during the debate in Strasbourg is evidence of a thriving democracy in Hungary. “For the Left, democracy only thrives when they win the elections. The conclusion of this debate is that it is obvious that we have to protect Europe from the Left,” he added.
Voices of support from the Right
There were moments on Wednesday when Viktor Orbán not only received criticism but praise. Jorge Buxadé of the Spanish conservative VOX party said the prime minister’s speech was a breath of fresh air, because the European Parliament finally heard from a European leader who is insistent on protecting families and children, and securing borders. “Women are safer today in Budapest than in Brussels, Paris, London, or Madrid,” the MEP said.
Harald Vilimsky of the Austrian Party for Freedom said the abuse hurled at Viktor Orbán was the desperate action of parties who are constantly losing their voter base. He thanked Orbán for working towards peace in Ukraine and solving the migration crisis.
