{"id":396281,"date":"2024-10-09T16:23:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/10\/09\/von-der-leyen-orban-ue-ungheria\/"},"modified":"2024-10-16T15:06:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T13:06:13","slug":"von-der-leyen-attacks-orban-in-eu-parliament-tensions-erupt-as-pro-european-forces-face-off-against-sovereignists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/10\/09\/von-der-leyen-attacks-orban-in-eu-parliament-tensions-erupt-as-pro-european-forces-face-off-against-sovereignists\/","title":{"rendered":"Von der leyen attacks Orb\u00e1n in EU Parliament. Tensions erupt as pro-European forces face off against sovereignists"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the correspondent\u00a0in Strasbourg<\/em> – It was supposed to be a fierce confrontation, and it was. Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/strong> will have come out of the EU\u00a0Parliament<\/a> with a headache, hit repeatedly by cross accusations from all political groups except the far right. The first to strike, immediately turning the debate over the priorities<\/a> of the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council into a showdown\u00a0between pro-European and sovereignist forces<\/strong>, was the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>,\u00a0who accused Orb\u00e1n of blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, angrily urging him, “Would you also blame the Hungarians for the invasion by\u00a0the Soviet Union in 1956?”<\/p>\n

And think\u00a0that Orb\u00e1n, in his introductory speech, had wisely renounced polemics, assuring Budapest’s “constructive attitude” toward the Parliament in these remaining three months of its presidency on all 41 dossiers on which the EU Council and the Parliament\u00a0have to confront each other in institutional trialogues. “The European Union must change, and the Hungarian presidency will be the voice of change<\/strong>,” the sovereignist leader announced, concluding his speech by declaring that “Hungarians continue to seek their home in the European Union<\/strong>.” But the tenant of the EU executive was waiting in the wings for him.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Ursula von der Leyen attacks Viktor Orban during the debate in the Strasbourg EU Parliament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Von der Leyen attacked immediately on Ukraine: “There are still those who blame the Ukrainian people’s desire for freedom and not Putin’s thirst for power<\/strong>. There is no European language in which peace is synonymous with surrender and sovereignty is synonymous with occupation.” Having dealt the first blow, the EU leader moved on to the migration chapter, on which Budapest has recently requested an exemption to the common policy. “Everyone understood that migration is a European challenge that requires a European response. Now the Pact (on migration and asylum, ed.)<\/em> must be implemented,” she clarified.<\/p>\n

Looking straight into the eyes of the Magyar head of government, he challenged him again, recalling that last year Budapest released and expelled thousands of traffickers from its own country: “This is not about fighting illegal immigration, but throwing the problems to neighbouring countries<\/strong>.” Finally, von der Leyen pointed the finger at the visa facilitation for Russian citizens sought by Orb\u00e1n and the presence of Chinese police forces on Hungarian territory. A “back door for foreign interference” in the European Union.<\/p>\n

As if to reject the prime minister’s authority, von der Leyen then appealed to the “ten million Hungarians<\/strong> who can shape the future together with us.” Orb\u00e1n called von der Leyen’s choice to immediately shift the focus of the debate to the Hungarian government “unfortunate” and rejected as “a humiliation” any analogy between the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. And on unconditional support for Kyiv, the premier countered, “On the front, we are losing, and you are acting as if we are not.”<\/p>\n

Only sovereignists defend Orb\u00e1n. Weber: “No one wants to meet it, Hungary is isolated”<\/h3>\n

After the clash between von der Leyen and Orb\u00e1n, the group leaders of the main European political families went on the attack. Starting with Manfred Weber<\/strong>, leader of that same European People’s Party of which Orb\u00e1n’s party was a member until 2021. Weber said Orb\u00e1n’s summer visit to Moscow “was never a peace mission, but a propaganda show between autocrats<\/strong>.” Budapest’s ambiguity about the Kremlin has a clear consequence, highlighted by Weber: “Today no one wants to meet with it; Hungary has been isolated.”<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>
Manfred Weber (EPP) speaks at the debate with Viktor Orban<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

The fiercest accusations came from progressive leaders. For the Social Democrats’ group leader,\u00a0Iratxe Garcia Perez<\/strong>, Orb\u00e1n’s “false patriotism” is easily\u00a0unmasked: the populist leader “criticizes the EU of threatening Hungarian sovereignty, but benefits from billions of euros that he distributes to his little group of oligarchs<\/strong>.” And he “justifies his inability to run the country by blaming Brussels.”<\/p>\n

Valerie Hayer<\/strong>, president of the Renew liberals, called to “suspend Hungary’s voting rights<\/strong>\u00a0in the EU Council.” At the same time,\u00a0Terry Reintke<\/strong>, leader of the Greens, reiterated on behalf of the group that Orb\u00e1n “is not welcome here.”<\/span>\u00a0A Bella Ciao<\/em> chorus rang out from the European Left and Green benches on the sidelines of the Hungarian president’s speech.<\/p>\n

If the two far-right groups\u2014 Patriots for Europe, a creature shaped by Orb\u00e1n himself, and Europe of Sovereign Nations, the group revolving around Germany’s Afd\u2014denounced the cordon sanitaire applied against them by the other groups and pledged loyalty to the Hungarian president’s sovereignist struggle,\u00a0more ambiguous was the position of the European Conservatives and Reformists<\/strong>, the European Party group led by Giorgia Meloni. “We share several objectives of his program,” said group leader Nicola Procaccini<\/strong>:\u00a0the most brutal punch against migrant people, the rethinking of the green transition, and the traditional family as the “primary cell of any political community.” At the same time, “as a friend,” Procaccini challenged Orb\u00e1n for “not being aware of the most dangerous external enemy for the EU, the alliance between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, the antithesis of any Hungarian, European, Western patriot.”<\/p>\n

New Orb\u00e1n lunges on Salis: “She beat peaceful people with iron bars”<\/h3>\n

Among the many speeches in the Parliament, significant was that of the Hungarian MEP from the EPP,\u00a0<\/span>P\u00e9ter Magyar<\/strong>, who, after 20 years of militancy in Orb\u00e1n’s party, decided to found the Respect and Freedom party in open opposition to the premier<\/span>\u00a0and came second, with 31 per cent of the vote, at the\u00a0European elections <\/a>of June 2024. “Stop pointing the finger at Brussels; you have been ruling with unlimited powers for 14 years; you have had all the chances in the world to make our country better,” declared the main opposition leader. Who then proclaimed, “We will build a just, European, and livable Hungary. Never doubt, never be discouraged. We are not afraid, and time works to our advantage<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ilaria Salis (The Left) speaks at the debate with Viktor Orban<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Also taking the floor was Ilaria Salis<\/strong>, a Green and Left Alliance MEP who remained in preventive detention for 15 months in Budapest on charges of beating some Hungarian neo-Nazi militants and isis now free<\/a> precisely because of her immunity as an MEP. “Hungary has become an illiberal and oligarchic regime, an ethnic state, a modern tyranny<\/strong>,” Salis said. To which the Hungarian prime minister then responded, “I find the accusations about the rule of law from those who have beaten peaceful people on the streets of Budapest<\/strong> with iron bars absurd.” Carlo Fidanza<\/strong>, head of the Fratelli d’Italia delegation, on the other hand, correctly stated that Salis is \u2018indicted in Hungary for very serious violence\u2019, as\u00a0 Italian MEP has never yet received a sentence of any kind<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The curtain on the unedifying show of ad personam attacks between Orb\u00e1n and the MEPs and between MEPs among themselves was closed by the Hungarian Prime Minister, according to whom “the conclusions of this debate are that\u00a0it is clear that Europe must be protected from you<\/strong>.” From those MEPs who “read reports financed by Soros.” Orb\u00e1n then left the chamber amid applause from the far right and booing and howling from the rest of the chamber.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The debate over the priorities of the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council quickly turns into a head-on clash between majority groups and loyalists of the Magyar prime minister. The EU leader accuses Orb\u00e1n of winking at Putin and appeals to the Hungarian people. Orb\u00e1n: “Unworthy accusations.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7527,"featured_media":396159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[25835,25833,26339,29304,29308],"class_list":["post-396281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-viktor-orban-en","tag-eurocamera-en","tag-presidency-of-the-council-en","tag-presidency-of-the-council-of-the-eus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7527"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396281"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396570,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396281\/revisions\/396570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}