Meaningless Priorities

Arguing that the bloc needs to change and that Hungary wants to be a catalyst in that process, he highlighted in his speech the issues of competitiveness and migration as the two key policy areas in which the Hungarian presidency would seek to drive change. Although Budapest’s six-month term started ostentatiously in July with Orbán’s so-called peace mission to end the war in Ukraine, he did not even mention the country in his EP address. 

The debate that followed barely considered the goals set forth. There was instead a showdown between, on one hand, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and representatives of the EP’s mainstream political groups and, on the other, Orbán.

The prime minister’s presentation aimed at projecting Hungary’s image as an honest broker, but the wave of criticism that ensued called him out for attacking democracy, stoking domestic corruption, and pursuing a foreign policy that threatens the EU. The denunciations showed that most parliamentary groups rejected his smokescreen and instead demanded accountability from his government. Orbán responded by claiming to be a victim of an ideologically driven left-liberal political assault.

The only EP groups that unequivocally supported him were the recently formed, far-right Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations, an indication of the new home that Orbán’s party, Fidesz, has found after quitting the mainstream conservative European People’s Party (EPP) group. EPP President Manfred Weber, for his part, welcomed and endorsed during the debate the rise of Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar and his Tisza party, reflecting Fidesz’s shift to the political fringe.

Orbán’s program for Hungary’s EU presidency held little weight. But its presentation did offer an opportunity to spotlight the extent to which the prime minister and his European allies are rejected.

The views expressed herein are those of the author only and not necessarily those of GMF.