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Manfred Weber insulted the Hungarian people, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with the conservative German daily Welt am Sonntag, which was reviewed by MTI. Among other things, the Prime Minister spoke about the veto debate, the European Parliament, the situation of the media in Hungary, allegations of corruption and defense against the coronavirus.
Speaking at the recent EU summit on the budget, the recovery fund for the coronavirus epidemic and the agreement on the rule of law mechanism, the prime minister emphasized that the European Parliament had linked the recovery fund to a vote on a mechanism of the rule of law without objective criteria.
and our position was that it was unreasonable
He said.
He also said that in his opinion, the issue should not be discussed in the current crisis, and that the commitment is about that, so it is a “triumph of common sense.”
The Prime Minister also referred to the fact that he believed that the European Parliament had been involved in the process of negotiating the budget and the recovery fund. He said of the board that he “completely overestimates his role.”
Believe it has more legitimacy than national parliaments
He said about the EP, adding that he said it was a “complete mistake”.
Viktor Orbán also explained that the veto was forced to be used by Hungarians and Poles to counter the influence of the EP, as the body tried to circumvent the union’s basic treaty “illegally”.
When asked why the governments of the former communist states mainly accuse Brussels of interfering excessively, he said that the sensitivity is historically ingrained, “we know what it is like when decisions are not made in our own capital.” He added that some Heads of Government have observed that they want to hand over more and more national powers to Brussels, but this is “rejected in our historical experience.”
According to the Prime Minister
“It won’t be long now” for Brussels to become an autocratic center like Moscow was under communism.
According to him, the aim of the rule of law mechanism is to compel member states to implement “ideologically defined policies”. According to Viktor Orbán, the mechanism would force member states to do so by threatening financial sanctions. According to him, the “real debate” is about family policy, immigration policy, cultural issues.
The Prime Minister also recalled his conflict with Manfred Weber, leader of the PE Group in the European People’s Party (EPP). According to him, at that time he had assured the German politician of his support for the position of president of the European Commission, but two days later he stated that he did not want to take office with the votes of the Hungarians.
Everyone here asked, what kind of person is that? Do you think we are second-rate Europeans? This case was not about me, but about insulting the Hungarian people. We have lost trust in him
Viktor Orbán said.
Photo: Zoltán Máthé / MTI
According to the prime minister, the problem is more with the EPP, since Manfred Weber wants the same coalition in Brussels as in Berlin, where the Christian Democrats rule with the Social Democrats. This means that “soon it will not be possible to distinguish between conservatives and socialists.”
We are not the ones who leave the PPE, we are
– said Viktor Orbán, emphasizing that the party’s family must maintain its “Christian-conservative character”.
The Prime Minister also referred to the fact that the allegations made about the situation of the media in Hungary in the ranks of the EPP seemed ridiculous to him. Highlights:
Objective studies show that government-critical media have a market share of more than 50 percent.
On the fact that the so-called four stingy groups of countries formed by Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden – such as the Hungarian government – oppose joint indebtedness, but at the same time criticize the corruption situation in Hungary, Viktor Orbán emphasized:
“The fact that we agree with some countries on certain issues does not mean that your company is attractive to us.”
Corruption “is no more widespread in Hungary than in Austria, France or Germany,” the prime minister said. He added that warnings from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) are followed in Hungary in many more cases than in any other EU member state, and the prosecutor’s office, unlike Germany, for example, is not supervised by the government but by the legislature.
Speaking about the treatment of the coronavirus epidemic, he stressed that in Hungary “there is much less resistance to the measures than in Germany.” In his view, this can also be attributed to the national defense consultation, which ensured “basic democratic support” for the measures.
Let’s not forget the two principles of democracy that the ancient Greeks professed: democracy is not just about participation, but also about good governance. This is what we do in Hungary
– Viktor Orbán summed up.
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