Orban in Meloni's wake: this is how he wants to change Europe

Orban in Meloni’s wake: this is how he wants to change Europe

Strong and ‘idiotic’ leader, staunchly Trumpian and a bit of a ‘victim’ of the European conspiracy, very determined on some objectives, in particular on the issue of migration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán turned his presence in Strasbourg into a big show. Most MEPs harshly criticized him, even creating parallel appointments at the European Parliament plenary to denounce the democratic weakening in Hungary. Orbán defended himself in the chamber by denouncing the hypocracy of the EU, that is, the dictatorship of the hypocrisy of European governments and companies. What is normally a rite of passage for the head of government of the country responsible for the European semester of the Council of the EU has become an open clash between the benches of the European Chamber.

Among the many points of contrast between Budapest, Brussels and other European capitals, there is one around which Orbán could gather consensus: the ‘repatriation hubs’ of migrants placed in non-EU countries. A non-original idea, which Brussels had baptized with the agreements with Turkey and which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni relaunched with the treaty stipulated in recent months with Albania. Externalizing the EU’s borders is the priority of the Hungarian presidency around which Orbán will try to regain the alliances and trust dissipated in recent years.

Orbán on competitiveness and the Draghi report

On economic issues, the far-right Hungarian leader began by criticizing Europe’s poor competitiveness and citing the Draghi report. “We agree with the diagnosis 100%,” he said, while being less convinced about the solutions. What the Hungarian presidency intends to pursue is “economic neutrality”. “We must follow our own interests. If we want strategic autonomy we must have economic neutrality. Our proposal is that Europe must serve its own interests, not those of the United States or China.” The prime minister also highlighted too little investment in Research & Development compared to Beijing and Washington, and too high administrative burdens for businesses.

Duties on Chinese electric cars have been definitively approved, but states are divided

He then went on the attack, calling Brussels’ decisions regarding Chinese cars “absurd”, underlining how only ten member states supported the introduction of additional duties for vehicles from the People’s Republic. He classified the operation as “punishment” against Beijing. “These ten countries are not the majority of the population,” Orbán highlighted. “A tariff that should serve to protect the industry, in reality the car manufacturers do not want it,” he added.

Support for Serbia and Trump

On the topic of enlargement, he reiterated his closeness to Serbia governed by his ally Aleksandar Vučićalso poised between the Western bloc and the court of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Without the Balkans, Europe will not be complete. We promised them 20 years ago. Enlargement must be based on merit, but without Serbia, enlargement to the Western Balkans will not be possible”, declared the prime minister Hungarian. Orbán has no doubts about the American presidential elections: “I’ll open bottles if Trump wins”, he said, then paraphrasing the US tycoon’s slogan from the last elections: “Make Europe great again”. The situation in the United States then gave the “la” to his vision regarding the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, which in these two years has been the real sore point of his relations with Brussels and with the other European leaders.

On Budapest’s support for Ukraine

The Fidesz leader defended the position taken by his country regarding the support provided to Kiev. “Hungary launched the largest humanitarian program to help Ukraine, welcoming all refugees. Even today we have thousands of people living in Hungary. We opened Ukrainian-language schools for them,” Orbán highlighted . Then he moved on to the more strictly military question.

Orban’s new gift to Putin: easier visas for Russians (to enter Europe)

“The discussion is about what would be the reasonable behavior of the EU in this conflict. We think that we need to focus on the ceasefire. We are convinced that the war cannot be won on the battlefield. If there is no underlying policy there is no we do nothing but lose”, reiterated the Hungarian, who in recent months has repeatedly opposed the granting of European funds in favor of Kiev.

Orbán the “diplomat”

Regarding the attitude of the two states in conflict, he highlighted: “Both leaders in Ukraine and Russia are not ready to opt for peace, they think that time is on their side, they don’t want a ceasefire, they both want win and this is not in Europe’s interest.” Orbán’s proposal is to create a joint pact, including the EU, China and Brazil, capable of influencing the two countries to reach a ceasefire. While waiting for this solution to materialize, according to Orbán, military support for Ukraine should remain a decision of national governments, thus excluding ties between member states.

Orbán’s priority: hubs for migrant repatriations

The ideas are also very clear on the issue of migrants, one of Orbán’s strong points. On this point the Hungarian Prime Minister is totally aligned with his “sister” (as he defined her) Giorgia Meloni. “Migration can only be stopped in one way and that is external hot spots. We must agree on the fact that anyone who wants to enter the EU must stop before entering and must request a permit and when and if the permit is provided to him he can enter”, he clarified. “The only migrant who doesn’t stay is the one who can’t enter because I don’t know of any government that wants to take them and put them in a vehicle and let them out. Whoever enters never comes out again,” he said. Orbán knows well that the shift to the right in migration policies has been underway for some time and that he will find fertile ground on this position.

“We will send buses of migrants to Brussels”, Orban’s latest threat

“They have been calling me ‘idiot’ since 2015, but everyone will agree with the external hot spots. It is clear that the European asylum system does not work. Consequences of migration have been the increase in anti-Semitism, the increase in violence against women and homotransphobia,” Orbán said. Hungary’s goal is to externalize the EU’s borders even more systematically. The alternative, according to the Fidesz exponent, is renouncing Schengen, the pact that has guaranteed the free movement of people in EU states in recent years. Orbán could transform it into a blackmail weapon to reduce the (few) resistance on external hot spots for migrants.

Giorgia Botter and Pietro Milani from Strasbourg collaborated on this article