Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused European leaders of wanting to interfere in Hungarian domestic politics by publicly declaring their desire to overthrow Orbán’s democratically elected government.
Speaking to public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday, October 11th, the conservative prime minister said that “instead of dealing with European affairs,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and head of the centrist-liberal European People’s Party (EPP) Manfred Weber “only want to overthrow the government and replace it with another government.”
The fact that they want to install a pro-Brussels administration in Budapest was made evidently clear at the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Orbán said.
As we reported, the session’s top agenda was the presentation by Orbán of the Hungarian EU rotating presidency’s programme. After the prime minister gave a speech on how Hungary plans to strengthen Europe through policies that focus on competitiveness, migration, security, agriculture, and EU enlargement, he was met with a stinging attack by von der Leyen, Weber, and other left-liberal lawmakers in the chamber, who criticised Orbán and his government.
Instead of addressing the Hungarian presidency’s programme, the EU Commission president made clear her utter contempt of the Budapest government, blaming Hungary for many of the failures of the European Union, including the handling of the migration crisis, and accusing Orbán of corruption and making Hungary poorer.
At the end of her speech, she addressed the Hungarian people, implying that none of them had voted for Orbán, or if they had, they shouldn’t continue doing so: “So let me conclude by addressing the Hungarian people. We are one family. Your story is our story. Your future is our future. Ten million Hungarians are ten million good reasons to keep shaping our future together.”
Manfred Weber, as the leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament, went even further by making the outrageous claim that Orbán’s party Fidesz had not won the European election in June: “Viktor, you didn’t win the elections. Fidesz is not the winner of the elections. You had twelve seats, now you have ten seats. So don’t create this image that you have the support.” In fact, Fidesz achieved a landslide victory with 45% of the votes, with Péter Magyar’s centrist Tisza party getting 30%. Weber said “Hungary deserves better,” and offered Magyar to the Hungarian voters.
The EPP also made their intentions known in a series of posts on their X social media account, including a malicious “Time to go” message for Orbán.
The fact remains, however, that Fidesz has won four landslide national elections in a row and, according to the latest polls, is on course for another victory in 2026. A survey by Nézőpont Intézet has Fidesz at 47%, and the Tisza party at 33%.
“Ursula von der Leyen and Manfred Weber announced that they wanted to overthrow the Hungarian government. They also named the members of this future government. Let’s just say that their preference is a pro-Brussels government, not a national-sovereigntist one,” Orbán said on Friday.
This new government would mean following the Brussels line on at least four issues that Hungarians have rejected, the prime minister added. These are: supporting Ukraine militarily, supporting Brussels’ migration policy, abolishing the Hungarian family protection and child protection laws, as well as supporting a cold war on trade and economy. “Maybe this is what they want in Brussels, but the Hungarians don’t,” Orbán emphasised.
The prime minister compared the current situation with the Soviet rule of Hungary in the second half of the 20th century. “Brussels cannot tell us how we should live our lives, and send us their mercenaries who will carry out their agenda. … There was a time when we were told what to do. We got rid of that era thirty years ago.”
The malicious attacks by the EPP on Hungary were harshly criticised by a number of lawmakers from the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, of which Fidesz is a member.
Hermann Tertsch of the Spanish VOX party questioned how the EPP could have the audacity to demand that the head of a government with an absolute majority should leave office. At the same time, nobody voted for Ursula von der Leyen, yet she tried to disqualify the prime minister, he added.
The head of the Vox delegation, Jorge Buxadé, criticised Von der Leyen for hypocrisy and for blaming Hungary instead of solving the problem of mass immigration.
