Hungary yesterday took over the EU’s rotating presidency, promising to be an “honest broker,” despite widespread concerns over what critics see as an authoritarian, Russia-friendly government.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has run the central European country since 2010 aiming to transform it into an “illiberal democracy,” frequently clashes with Brussels over rule-of-law and human rights issues.
He is also the only EU leader who has maintained ties with Russia, despite its invasion of Ukraine. He has refused to send arms to Kyiv and repeatedly slammed sanctions against Moscow over the war.
Photo: AFP
Last year, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution highlighting Hungary’s “backsliding” on democratic values, and questioning how it could “credibly” assume the bloc’s six-month presidency.
Budapest insists it is ready to assume “the duties and responsibilities” steering the bloc of 27 countries.
“We will be honest brokers, working loyally with all member states and institutions,” Hungarian EU Affairs Minister Janos Boka said in the middle of last month, as he unveiled the presidency’s program.
“At the same time, we believe Hungary has a strong mandate to pursue a strong European policy. Our work will reflect this vision of Europe,” he added.
Hungary’s program slogan — “Make Europe Great Again” — echoing the rallying cry of Orban’s “good friend” former US president Donald Trump — which already caused a stir in Brussels.
After Hungary last held the EU presidency in 2011, Orban boasted about handing out “flicks,” “smacks” and “friendly slaps” to the “excitable tormentors” of the European Parliament.
This time, the 61-year-old nationalist leader is even more combative, having vowed to “occupy Brussels” during the campaign for European elections early last month, banking on a right-wing breakthrough.
However, even though far-right parties made gains, Orban’s Fidesz party stands isolated, unable to find a group in the European Parliament that suits it.
On Sunday, Orban announced he wanted to form his own group, together with Austria’s far-right Freedom Party and the centrist ANO party of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis. They still need parties from at least four other countries to join them.
Last week, Orban failed to derail a deal to return Ursula von der Leyen as head of the powerful European Commission and two others from a centrist alliance taking the other top jobs.
Meanwhile, Von der Leyen put off a courtesy visit to Budapest, originally planned for the presidency opening. A new date has not been set. -
To garner support for Hungary’s program, Orban toured key European capitals last week.
Among the country’s seven priorities for its EU presidency are stemming “illegal migration” and bringing the Western Balkans countries “one step closer” to EU membership.
Orban can use the presidency to set the agenda, but he cannot achieve results without the commission’s support, Daniel Hegedus, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund said.
He added that Orban has limited opportunity to act as a spoiler, as the outgoing Belgian presidency and EU institutions have rushed to conclude important decisions.
Last week, the EU adopted a fresh sanction package against Russia and formally launched “historic” accession talks with Ukraine.
“Everybody was striving to reduce instability, thus restricting the room for maneuver for the Hungarian presidency,” Hegedus said.
But more “trolling on the communication front” is to be expected, he added.
Among Hungary’s battles with Brussels, Budapest is looking to unlock billions of euros in EU funds frozen over issues, including LGBTQ rights, the treatment of asylum seekers and public procurement.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would