Várhelyi nominated EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented her plan for a renewed Commission on Tuesday.

The Hungarian Commissioner-designate, Olivér Várhelyi, will be responsible for health and animal welfare. The announcement of his portfolio was greeted with muffled laughter from several places around the press room. Healthcare is an essentially national competence, which makes it a weak portfolio, even though the European Commission has launched several initiatives in this area during the Covid-19 epidemic. Von der Leyen said that Várhelyi would be responsible for building a "European health union" and for continuing the work on fighting cancer and on preventive healthcare.

In 2019, Várhelyi was given a more crucial area, enlargement and neighbourhood policy, which became even more weighty with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the eastern country's candidacy for EU membership. However, over the years, Várhelyi was embroiled in a series of scandals at his post:

• even before his appointment, he had a reputation for being a good professional, but also for being difficult and "incredibly rude to his subordinates";
• this was followed by reports that he was trying to steer certain candidate countries along and slow down others, always in line with the Hungarian government's views, despite the neutrality required of him by the EU treaties, a suspicion that Orbán had actually reinforced in advance with his own statements and promises;
• the European Parliament itself has called for an inquiry into Várhelyi's "deliberate efforts to circumvent and undermine the central importance of democratic and rule of law reforms in the EU accession countries";
• he also came into conflict with the EP over a remark about somebody being “an idiot” when he tought his microphone was off;
• the European Commission itself had to refute his statement about the suspension of aid to the Palestinians;
• in May this year, his name disappeared from a Commission communiqué criticising the Georgian foreign agent bill, which had already been made public;
• a few days later, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze outright accused Várhelyi of threatening him, but the Commissioner claimed that his words had been misinterpreted.

The government is sure of his future success, the opposition says new portfolio indication of Orbán's place in Europe

It is thanks to Várhelyi's "success that this (his previous one) is one of the most popular portfolios today. The fact that the area he has been overseeing will be taken over by three commissioners in the new Commission is an indication of his work ethic," Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs, János Bóka wrote on Facebook.

The Hungarian Commissioner-designate's "qualities are also much needed in Europe in his new portfolio: the pharmaceutical and health industries are one of the key points of the EU's competitiveness, and we can be stronger together in the fight against epidemics.

But this requires change in the EU. In Olivér Várhelyi, I see the potential for this change. I wish him patience for his parliamentary hearing, and strength and good health for his work – and I am confident of his success and future achievements."

"This is where Orbán and his party have led Hungary. Zero influence, a laughing stock" – Csaba Molnár posted on Facebook.

The MEP of the opposition party DK said that "the Hungarian commissioner will be given the post that is the least important. Such a post did not even exist before, it is being created specifically for the purpose of humiliating Orbán. Moreover, Orbán's man in the European Commission is going to be a subordinate of the Romanian Commissioner. I understand that the Hungarian government has strong references from home when it comes to 'horse wellness'. But it's still an indication of Orbán's place in Europe." (The mention of “horse wellness” is a reference to the much-contested use of public funds for the construction of a wellness and rehabilitation centre for horses in Kisvárda. – ed)

However, this is not to say that "we will support this man's appointment as an EU commissioner. Because there is no position in the EU that is weak and insignificant enough for which he is qualified."

Let's just say that he was not the most competent of commissioners and did not always respect the European Parliament, Bas Eickhout, co-chair of the Greens said, commenting on the news. It is time he started learning a lot, he replied to the news that Várhelyi would be put in charge of animal welfare.