STRASBOURG: Hungary’s nationalist leader Viktor Orban heads to the European Parliament Tuesday for what promises to be a stormy face-to-face with EU lawmakers — midway through Budapest’s norm-defying presidency of the bloc.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally within the European Union, Orban’s government is at loggerheads with its partners on a host of issues — from stalling aid for Ukraine, to enacting a host of laws the bloc sees as democratic backsliding.
It came as little surprise, when Hungary assumed the EU’s six-month presidency in July, that Orban went entirely off script: embarking on an uncoordinated Ukraine “peace mission” to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing that left heads spinning in Brussels.
In response, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen ordered top officials to skip a series of high-level meetings organised by the Hungarian presidency — a de facto boycott without precedent in the bloc’s history.
Officially, Orban is invited to Strasbourg to present the “priorities” of the presidency in a Wednesday debate attended by von der Leyen — an exercise twice delayed and now taking place half-way through Budapest’s mandate.
In practice, the spotlight-loving prime minister will kick things off with a press conference on Tuesday and can be expected to use the platform to rail at all things Brussels — while liberal lawmakers picket the event in protest.
Orban set the tone with a combative social media post on Sunday, pointing at hard-right electoral gains from Italy to the Netherlands and Austria — and the rising influence of a Hungarian-led new group in the EU parliament, the Patriots for Europe.
“We should not withdraw from Brussels, but occupy it,” he wrote. “We will take back Brussels from the bureaucrats and return it to the European people!”
Zoltan Kiszelly, of Hungary’s pro-government Szazadveg think tank, said he expected Orban to indeed devote time to Hungary’s stated priority of promoting EU competitiveness, with the goal of striking a pact on the topic at a November summit in Budapest.
But Kiszelly said the premier may also seize the chance to tout his “alternative to the mainstream” positions on a range of issues — such as making a case for a swift peace deal with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, or questioning the bloc’s intensifying trade standoff with China.
The hot-button issue of migration is expected to loom large, with Hungary’s anti-immigration government threatening to bus asylum seekers to Brussels in protest at the bloc’s refugee policies.
There is no love lost between Orban and centre-left forces in the European Parliament — who promised to pull no punches during his visit.
French lawmaker Valerie Hayer, whose centrist Renew group plans a protest outside Orban’s press conference, called his freelance diplomacy conducted under the EU presidency banner “unacceptable” and said it played into the hands of “autocratic states”.
“Orban is playing arsonist with the very idea of Europe,” she charged. “He wants to burn down democratic, liberal and tolerant Europe.”
“Orban should not be using the council presidency to push Putin’s interests,” said Maltese lawmaker Alex Agius Saliba, saying his Socialists and Democrats would be putting the Hungarian prime minister “in check” on democratic backsliding.
Since returning to lead his country in 2010, Orban has moved to curb civil rights and tighten his grip on power, repeatedly clashing with Brussels over rule-of-law issues.
A European Commission evaluation published in July found that Hungary falls well short of EU democratic standards, notably on corruption, bribery, political funding, conflicts of interest and lack of media independence.
In the latest case to pit Budapest against Brussels, last week the commission said it was referring Hungary to the European Court of Justice over laws aimed at curbing foreign influence in the country, which critics say aim to silence government opponents.
Last month, the EU said it was moving to withhold another 200 million euros ($220 million) in funds for Budapest after it failed to pay a fine for violating asylum rules, on top of billions that have already been frozen.
And for all the tough talk towards Brussels, Kiszelly said he would not be surprised to see Orban make overtures towards Brussels over corruption and the rule of law — given the sums at play.
