Vantage | Why EU-member Hungary always sings a different tune

Let’s talk about the EU and its Hungarian headache. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is on the war path again. His latest target is Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the European Commission. Orban’s Hungary is the rebel among the EU member states. It’s the closest to Russia, distrusts Ukraine, and opposes most of the EU’s policies. On issues ranging from migration to rights for the LGBTQ+ community, Orban has been at loggerheads with the EU over all these issues and more.

“I am deeply convinced that we must say ’no’ to the Brussels model of Europe. We have to say ’no’ because it is unsustainable, it has no future. I am convinced that today Brussels is destroying Europe and is leading it to its demise. They put a new nail into its coffin every day,” said the Hungarian prime minister.

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That speech was from Saturday, a day after Orban announced a “national consultation”. It’s a non-binding, informal survey that is going to be circulated in Hungary whereby citizens will be asked what they think about several EU policies. The exercise won’t really have any legal repercussions. It’s mostly a message to the EU that Hungarians stand with Orban and against them. At least that’s what Orban hopes the results will show. And he’s sparing no effort to ensure Hungarians turn against Brussels.

“We will resist the crazy ideas of Brussels bureaucrats, we will resist the migrants’ invasion, we will resist gender propaganda, and we will resist the illusions over the war (in Ukraine) and Ukraine’s unprepared EU membership,” said Orban.

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On Monday, the signs cropped up all over Hungary to show Von Der Leyen alongside Alex Soros, son of George Soros. The billionaire behind the Open Society Foundations. The Soros family has been accused of meddling in politics. In countries around the world, they are known to fund the opposition to right-wing conservative governments which makes them reviled by Orban and other conservative leaders.

Putting Alex Soros next to Von Der Leyen is a clear message. That she is also an enemy. Next to their photos is a message in Hungarian. It roughly translates to “Let’s not dance to the tune they whistle!” This is Orban’s latest attack against Brussels. And it specifically targets Von Der Leyen for the first time. But that’s the only new thing about it. Viktor Orban has done this before with Leyen’s predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker.

In 2019, Orban took out attack advertisements against Juncker as well. Back then, he put Junker’s photo next to that of George Soros. In 2019, the slogan was “everybody has the right to know what Brussels is planning!”. So Monday’s advertisements are a repeat. Orban is trying to recreate the Hungary versus EU and Soros battlelines.

But why? Orban says he doesn’t want Brussels to have free reign. Neither over migration nor over support for Ukraine. Or anything really that he disagrees with. Which is a long list.

But despite his grievances, Orban wants the benefits of EU membership. He insists that he won’t leave the bloc. Instead, he plans to hamper EU policies and he will try and change the group from the inside.

“Our task, our calling, is to prevent this. We must prevent it. Our interest is that the union should remain together. It should remain together as it was so hard to put together. We must not leave the union but change it. And it is only possible if radical changes happen in Brussels,” said Orban.

So what do Brussels and Von Der Leyen think about all of this? Apparently, not much. Reports say Von Der Leyen was completely unfazed when she heard about the aforesaid advertisements.

An EU spokesperson later said: “Let’s be clear. We know this is not the first time. It’s probably not the last time. We have business to do. We have crises to manage. We have policies to implement.”

Which can be understood as: “We don’t have time to deal with that nuisance in Budapest.” Orban may be a perpetual thorn in the EU’s side, but is it safe to just ignore him? Like it or not, he is leading an EU nation. He does have a say. And if he’s training his guns on Leyen, the EU’s unity and any shred of legitimacy are both at risk.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.

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