As an experienced diplomat and father of five, Barna Pál Zsigmond serves as the Parliamentary State Secretary and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of European Union Affairs of Hungary. With the EU Council’s Hungarian presidency just around the corner, we sat down to ask him about Budapest’s priorities, what happened at NatCon Brussels, and what’s at stake for national conservatives in the forthcoming EU elections.
Brussels’ attempts to shut down NatCon two weeks ago have prompted a lot of discussion about freedom of speech in Europe. Does what happened illuminate what is truly at stake in the June elections?
Brussels and the western neoliberal elite revealed to us their real face. In the Belgian capital, which used to be so proud of its democratic values, hard political pressure was applied in order to intimidate the national-conservative camp. Now that the mask is off and it has become crystal clear to everyone that the freedom of speech is under a never-before-seen attack from the side of its self-proclaimed protectors, we must clearly state that truly at stake in the June elections is the choice between war and peace. Let’s make it clear: what happened two weeks ago is not a local matter: in Brussels the pro-war left tried to silence pro-peace opinions. The goal of the left is clear: you can talk about the pro-war position, but not about peace.
Profound changes are needed in Brussels. The sovereignist pro-peace position must overcome the neoliberal federalist vision that has already pushed the continent into an economic downturn and could not give effective answers to the many crises of recent years. The result of the June elections will decide whether Europe will once again be a place of security, peace, and prosperity or it will become a war zone hit by uncontrolled illegal migration and by loss of economic competitiveness. In Brussels, we need members of the European Parliament who represent the national interest instead of the foreign interest, the European people instead of illegal migration, and the cause of peace instead of war!
At the Fidesz campaign launch, PM Orbán said the party’s number one priority will be preventing Brussels from dragging Europe into war. How bad is the situation, and does Hungary have other pro-peace allies in Europe?
As a responsible, pro-peace Hungarian politician—and as a private person and father of five boys—I am faced with the shocking fact day by day that more than two years after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the institutions of the European Union are still not talking about peace, but about military and financial support of the war. According to Brussels and some member state leaders, sooner or later we will also have to send troops to the war, and NATO itself is drifting in that direction. In the United States, after the House of Representatives, the Senate also approved the foreign aid package consisting of four elements, which provides, among other things, $60.8 billion to support Ukraine. This could lead to an even longer, even bigger war, even a world war.
The stance of Hungary has been firm since the beginning of the war: it can only be ended with a ceasefire, which creates the framework in which we can engage in a meaningful dialogue about lasting peace. Sooner or later, the member states must realize that an armed conflict cannot be sustained until the end and a way must be found to reach a ceasefire and peace. We hope for the strengthening of the pro-peace stance after the potential win of President Trump in the US elections. There is hope that if President Trump wins, he can bring peace to Europe. European nations will also be at a crossroads, because we have upcoming European elections, and the people will have to choose: war or peace? I am sure that contrary to the globalist elite and the bureaucrats in Brussels, the majority of Europeans want peace.
Migration is another crucial issue for the election, especially because the Parliament just adopted the final version of the Migration Pact, including the migrant quotas and the mandatory solidarity mechanism. In contrast, Orbán said recently that Hungary won’t accept it, and if the EU leaders adopt it without unanimous approval, that would cripple the implementation entirely. So first, why is the Pact unacceptable to Hungary, and secondly, is there any chance it can be reversed or modified after the election?
In Hungary, we have been saying since 2015 that the pro-migration policy will permanently destroy Europe’s security, identity, and economy. Nine years have passed, and the illegal migration pressure on our continent has not decreased. In fact, it is increasing every year throughout Europe as a result of the mistaken decision-making in Brussels. This is also critical from a security point of view, as a correlation can be shown between the increase of terrorism and illegal migration. What the pro-war leadership in Brussels is currently doing is unacceptable, because they do not want to curb illegal migration, but to spread it and finance it.
The Pact on Migration and Asylum adopted by the European Parliament on April 10 is an open letter of invitation to illegal migrants—which is against the will of the European people—including the overwhelming majority of Hungarians. According to the latest polls, 71% of European citizens believe that Brussels is handling migration in a wrong manner, and even the member states are not unanimous in their enthusiasm for the Pact. Despite this, the European Parliament, which is approaching the end of its mandate, felt the urge to approve of the Migration Pact.
The new regulations want to introduce two types of mandatory migrant quotas. On the one hand, it requires our country to assess 8,490 cases on a permanent basis at the external border, which is nearly 30% of the total European number! This means the creation of migration camps and also carries a huge security risk. On the other hand, in the spirit of solidarity, we should also take over illegal migrants arriving in other member states, and if we do not fulfill the mandatory migrant quota set for us, we have to pay €20,000 for every migrant.
Hungary consistently believes that the problem should not be brought here, but the solution should be taken to the regions from which illegal migrants depart. The upcoming Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union will therefore also focus on the strengthening of the external dimension of migration.
There is still a lot of speculation going around in Brussels about whether or not Fidesz will join ECR after the election. PiS for one seems to be welcoming, but Fratelli is not as enthusiastic. Where do negotiations stand right now, what are the chances and can the ID group be considered an alternative if need be?
Let’s revisit it after the European Parliament elections. The most important thing at the moment is to strengthen sovereigntist forces. Both ECR and ID are very strong right-wing party groups, and we need some kind of cooperation in the future because the left is also united. The people of Europe need real representation, something the national side can deliver now. We hope for a significant right-wing turn in Brussels.
The Council’s Hungarian presidency starts right after the election. The Brussels establishment tried to cancel it for months, unsuccessfully. What will be the priorities of those six months, and are you preparing for a difficult fight in terms of other institutions trying to sabotage the presidency’s work perhaps?
Hungary will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time from 1 July to 31 December 2024 as part of the so-called Spanish-Belgian-Hungarian trio presidency. So for those who are trying to sabotage our Presidency, we message that in certain aspects the Hungarian Presidency is already going on and Hungary already had a very successful presidency in 2011, also under the premiership of Viktor Orbán.
Preparation is influenced by a number of factors that require appropriate adaptation. On the one hand, the European Parliament elections of 6-9 June 2024, shortly before the start of the Hungarian Presidency will be a key moment and on the other hand, the end of the 2019-2024 institutional cycle will create exceptional circumstances in general. The terms of office of the Presidents of both the European Commission and the European Council will expire in the autumn. The Hungarian semester will therefore be dominated by questions of institutional change, so “classical” legislative tasks are more likely to be expected in the second half of our Presidency. We are devoted to executing the Presidency tasks to our full potential by being an honest broker.
The Hungarian Presidency program is currently being finalized and the final version will be presented by the end of June 2024. The Hungarian Presidency wishes to deal with problems that affect Europe the most and offer real solutions for them. Besides combating illegal migration, as I presented before, we will focus on strengthening the competitiveness of the EU, addressing demographic challenges, strengthening the defense industry, and shaping the future of cohesion policy. Our presidency will also put a special emphasis on the promotion of the credible and merit-based enlargement process. We believe that the European Union cannot be complete without the accession of the Western Balkans, which would benefit the Union economically, security-wise, and geopolitically. Furthermore, we will not allow the neoliberal Brussels elite to make life even more difficult for European farmers: we will stand up for the protection of European agricultural interests.
