Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke of "a coalition of lies" as he arrived at a summit of EU national leaders on Thursday, saying "there is no reason why we should support this, we cannot support this".
The main item on the agenda is a decision on the distribution of the EU's top posts. Commenting on information that has emerged in the press, according to which the three centre parties had agreed in advance on Tuesday about who would get each post, he said that would be impertinent towards the electorate.
He believes that voters would like to see a right-wing leadership because most of them chose right-wing parties, but the European People's Party "stole" and took some of them to the left in the 6-9 June election.
This then led to the forming of a "coalition of lies and deceit" which is all about power rather than policies.
"There is no reason for us to support this abuse of power, we cannot endorse it", and especially not the re-election of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is using the rule of law against Hungary on political grounds. He said he saw evidence of this in the change of government in Poland, which he said was supported by means of the rule of law, and when he asked whether the Hungarian government could take similar steps, he was left without an answer.
He did not give a clear answer as to who he would like to see in von der Leyen's place, he only said that he's got ‘a long list’.
In principle, the three party families have the majority to adopt the decision, but Orbán's Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni is also unhappy with it, although the EPP is trying to coordinate with her, unlike with the Hungarian Prime Minister.
When asked about the European Commission's repeated criticism of Hungary's economic policies, such as selective sector-specific taxes, he said, "We consider it a compliment". "This is where Hungarian success comes from", he said, adding that these kinds of measures are contributing to higher growth than elsewhere in the EU. He said that "they" are trying to take this success away from Hungary, but his government isn't going to let that happen.
"You see, that's what I'm working on," he replied when asked if he had managed to take Brussels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also present for the meeting, as an agreement on security guarantees was signed between the EU and Ukraine. According to the live feed from the room reserved only for heads of state and government, the Hungarian Prime Minister went over to shake hands with him and they exchanged words.
Viktor Orbán said that his goal with the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council due to start in a few days is to focus on peace and economic growth, but not immigration. He believes that 90 percent of the programme is supported by the big member states.
Things are going well in Georgia, I think they're on the right track," he said when asked about the situation in the EU candidate country, where the so-called "foreign agents law" has been stirring up tensions. In May, the Hungarian and Slovak governments had obstructed a joint statement on the law, which critics say stigmatises NGOs in the same way Russian legislation does.
"We struck a fair deal," he said of Mark Rutte, who is attending his last summit, as he will – after his recent election defeat – go from Dutch Prime Minister to NATO Secretary General after Hungary gave up on its long-standing opposition to his appointment.
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