The meeting failed to bring about an agreement on the heads of the EU institutions.Continue reading
Hungary cannot support the extension of the mandate of the President of the European Commission because she has used and is using the instrument of the rule of law, an important European value, against Hungary on party and political grounds, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Brussels on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion of the two-day EU summit on the selection of the next president of the European Commission, Mr Orbán said that when Poland had a change of government, which was “always supported” by Brussels using the rule of law and a number of “at least questionable” changes were made, the European Commission did not say a word.
When I asked in a letter whether what the new Polish government (of Donald Tusk, ed. note) had done in Poland we Hungarians were also allowed to do, they did not even reply. Thus, according to our understanding, the president of such a commission should not remain in her position,”
he explained.
During the 2019 elections Ursula von der Leyen had received support from the Hungarian Prime Minister over Manfred Weber, who had insulted the Hungarians with some exceptionally arrogant remarks. “What happens after that remains to be seen, but the chances of achieving sensible solutions are greater today than they would have been in the past or for any other candidate,” Viktor Orbán said at the time.
On Thursday, Mr Orbán recalled that the European People’s Party (EPP), led by Manfred Weber, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Renew Europe had formed a coalition on the appointment of the next leaders of the European Union institutions, describing it as “a party coalition of lies and deceit.”
European voters have been deceived. The @EPP formed a coalition of lies with the left and the liberals. We do not support this shameful agreement! #EUCO pic.twitter.com/eOEjdi9mXZ
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) June 27, 2024
“The agreement was reached on a party basis, not on programs, not on past performance, not on future plans. It was explicitly a power-sharing arrangement,” he stressed. The agreement between the EPP, the socialists and the liberals “must be considered a disgrace,” the prime minister underlined.
“The People’s Party had captured a share of the national conservative vote and then taken it to the left, thus deceiving European voters,” he pointed out, adding:
This is an insolence to the European electorate, most of whom voted for conservatives and wanted to see a conservative European leadership. There is no reason for us to support this abuse of power,”
he underlined.
Commenting on the country-specific recommendations for Hungary in EU reports, he said “we take them all as praise”. They are important instruments of Hungarian economic policy and contribute to the fact that Hungarian economic growth is well above the EU average.
“This is where Hungarian success comes from. They want to take this success away from us, but unfortunately we cannot give it to them,” he said. With regard to Hungary’s six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, starting on July 1, he stressed that the presidency’s program is all about competitiveness and economic growth, which he said is supported by everyone. “The support of the big countries is behind 95 percent of our program,” Viktor Orbán added.
Via MTI, hirado.hu; Featured image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán