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The Prime Minister – who was interviewed in Brussels after taking over the rotating presidency of the European Union from Belgian caretaker Prime Minister Alexander De Croo – said Europe’s greatest problem today is the Russo-Ukrainian war, and this will be the most important issue of the period ahead as well.
He said the Americans cannot be left out when it comes to ideas about the future of Europe, but this is so due to the war – rather than due to Donald Trump’s programme – given that Europe’s greatest problem is the Russo-Ukrainian war.
He said in the debate of the US presidential candidates, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump clearly stated that he would end the war within 24 hours; if he wins, there will be a ceasefire at the very least. “As to whether that will turn into lasting peace is something that the future alone holds, but that there will be something other than what there is now is for certain,” the Prime Minister stated.
Therefore, Europe must prepare for the situation that sooner or later the Americans and the Russians will have talks, he indicated. Where will Europe’s place be in this arrangement? Who will represent its interests? What are its interests at all? – he listed the most important questions emerging in this context.
Mr Orbán said Hungary is unable to answer these questions, but as the country holding the rotating presidency, what it can do is what the duty of the president of the day is: it will table proposals which will help the decision of the 27 prime ministers.
He said “we will be there in every venue and location that is important from Europe’s point of view, we will explore every situation, we will prepare reports on every situation for European leaders which the European Council will be able to discuss, and as a result, European leaders will be able to decide.” He indicated that in the coming days “there will be surprising news coming from surprising places.”
In answer to the question of how European leaders received the EU presidency motto which had “a Trumpean ring to it,” Mr Orbán said “they swallowed it.”
He explained that if the United States aspires to make itself great again, while Europe talks about wanting to remain a player in world politics and wants to become stronger instead of the present decline, it must become great again.
The Prime Minister said it is a virtue that in international diplomacy Hungary is open and straight, and is able to contribute to European debates with the Hungarian character trait of calling a spade a spade. The Hungarian presidency will give Europe an impetus and will benefit Europe because the Hungarians speak openly about even the most difficult issues, without wanting to influence decision-makers, he stated.
He added that what happens here is not what often constitutes the root of problems in Brussels, that issues are tabled in a jargon, in a language that is difficult to understand, with the very specific bureaucratic approach of the Brussels bubble by wasting a lot of time, or that issues are not tabled at all.
According to Mr Orbán, at the same time, Hungary does not misconceive the magnitude it represents, knows its place in the world, is aware of its virtues and flaws, and whatever it has to give it contributes it to European values to the best of its abilities – this is what can be expected of the Hungarian presidency in the next six months. There will be some surprising things, he indicated.
Regarding illegal migration, he said the migration pact adopted with “much hoo-ha” is not working; we must move on.
He said he will suggest that rather than penalising Hungary for not letting migrants in, Brussels and the other capitals should adopt Hungary’s migration policy. All of a sudden, everything would become much simpler, he added.
In the context of one of the priorities of the Hungarian presidency – European competitiveness – he said introducing major international taxes was a mistake, “taxes are bad,” in order to boost the economy, the players of the economy must be supported.
He said they would like to review measures “which are allegedly about protecting certain industries, in particular the automotive industry, against eastern manufacturers.” During the preparations for the presidency, he met with the executives of the largest automotive industry companies, and they said they do not want this because when eastern players “hit back,” they will stand to lose much more.
In his view, the European Union is now on the verge of becoming involved in a trade war with the East in which Europe will only lose.
He also spoke about the fact that the green energy policy must be radically revised and transformed because in the past few years, it has only caused Europe to use even more coal than before and energy prices to double or even triple.
According to his information, during the Hungarian presidency, progress will have to be made on as many as 120 legislative dossiers, they will hold around 1,500 task force meetings, 230 presidency events and 37 high-level meetings, while the summits of the 27 European prime ministers and the meeting of the European Political Community consisting of 47 European heads of state and government will also be held in Budapest.
Evaluating the European Parliament elections, the Prime Minister said the people in Europe voted for change as in 20 of the 27 countries parties won “which said things in Brussels can’t continue like this.” In his view, this is why the Belgian Prime Minister and the French government fell, and “it was a close shave” in Germany, too.
He stressed that the more evident the fact that there was a need for change, the more likely change was going to take place. This is why they launched a new European party alliance. The President of Fidesz described the alliance ‘Patriots for Europe’ established with the involvement of Hungarian, Austrian and Czech parties as a pan-European, right-wing and patriotic formation which stands for peace, order, security and growth, and which will “turn into a large group of MEPs sooner than anyone would now think.”
“Another four or five days, and many will be surprised,” Mr Orbán observed, adding that their founding meeting will be held on 8 July, and in addition to the Portuguese Chega which has already announced its intention to join, soon an Italian party will join as well.
In the Prime Minister’s words, the alliance “will grow at an incredible pace,” and so it will swiftly become the third and then the second largest parliamentary group in Brussels.
We are the ones who want to mend Europe,
the Prime Minister stressed,
adding that the participants of the new party alliance are patriots who passionately love their own countries and believe that Europe is important at the same time.
He highlighted that they wanted strong European cooperation not against Europe, but in the interest of their own countries. However, they do not want a European empire, a United States of Europe, “a grey mass controlled from Brussels” and a totalitarian regime. We want national sovereignty and independence under our own national flags, he added.
In his opinion, the European people want peace, but instead they are receiving war because the EU was unable to prevent the Russo-Ukrainian war and was likewise unable to isolate the conflict.
Additionally, he continued, the European people want order and security, but instead they are receiving migration and the threat of terrorism and crime stemming from that; instead of development, economic growth and a more promising life in terms of livelihood, the EU is characterised by stagnation.
Mr Orbán described the performance in the past few years of Ursula von der Leyen repeatedly nominated as head of the European Commission as “rather modest,” especially on the issues of war, migration and the green transition, and also recalled that the Commission had from time to time launched political attacks against Hungary under the disguise of the rule of law. He indicated that he was therefore unable to support the renewed mandate of von der Leyen as president of the Commission.
Mr Orbán described President of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber as “known to be anti-Hungarian,” a man who is “positively Hungarophobic,” and took the view that while Ursula von der Leyen’s presidency “won’t be recorded in gold letters in the annals of Hungarian history,” Manfred Weber’s nomination five years ago “would have been a disaster for Hungary.”
He said he supported former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa for the post of president of the European Council because he had been his colleague for many long years and had “always treated Hungary fairly.” At the same time, in the case of the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who has been elected as High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, he abstained because he is not convinced that she is up for the job and Estonia is very much pro-war.
The Prime Minister warned that “it doesn’t seem like a smart idea” that Italy as a founder state was entirely left out of the talks regarding the top positions. He recalled that in 2014 the British had not supported former President of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker’s candidacy and it had “ended in Brexit.”
He stressed that the Italians had every right to be upset; the large founder states must be treated fairly because unless we do so, “sooner or later, everyone will pay the price.”
