EPP leader Manfred Weber (R) and his Hungarian protégé
Europe must now invest “capital of trust” in the new Hungarian government, Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (EPP), stated at a press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday. This came only a day earlier before Péter Magyar was due to visit Brussels to bring back billions of euros in previously withheld European Funds, that many have warned was used as a political pressure tactics against the conservative government of Viktor Orbán.
Weber emphasized that Europe’s main message must be that it recognizes the new government’s readiness and intention to implement changes. He highlighted that the visit to Brussels also shows that “there is no time to waste,” and that the new Hungarian leadership wants to immediately establish contact with EU institutions. According to the EPP president the new government has a clear mandate and will be able to meet expectations.
“They will likely even exceed what is needed at this moment,”
Weber said, adding that all of this is a “very good message” for Europe. Weber described the changes in Hungary as a “very positive political development” at the European level. “A very good result has emerged that is favorable for everyone,” he stated. “What has now happened in Hungary is a confirmation of this investment of trust,” he said, adding that it is particularly important for the EPP that a People’s Party prime minister is once again at the helm of a major European country, Weber stated.
His words are a clear indication that Péter Magyar’s Wednesday Brussels visit is only a formality, and the funds withheld from the Orbán government for years will be released unconditionally to the Tisza government. The move follows a pattern known from the 2024 Polish elections, when a eurosceptic government was replaced by another EPP member, Donald Tusk’s party. Over a hundred billion euros that have been withheld for years have almost immediately been granted to the new left-wing leadership unconditionally.
The EPP president welcomed the release of approximately 90 billion euros in funds to support Ukraine. He emphasized that this further underscores the need to place trust in the new Hungarian government, which, he said, is committed to change, particularly in the area of the rule of law.
In this Weber mistakenly credited Péter Magyar with the decision to unblock the 90 billion loan to Ukraine, as in reality the deal was made by the outgoing Orbán government in return for the reopening of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
According to Weber, the European Parliament has a key role to play in rebuilding trust between Brussels and Budapest. As part of this, he called for the termination of the Article 7 procedure initiated against Hungary. “Our task now is to help the new government,” he emphasized. As he said, what is needed is not criticism or “excessively detailed negotiations,” but support, so that the government can meet the expectations of voters.
His sudden change of mind will no doubt reinforce suspicions that the European Commission is not only using European grants as a tool for blackmailing and punishing governments that resists their euro-federalist dreams, but is also using the Article 7 rule-of-law procedure as a political tool in order to interfere with democratic processes in member-state whose citizens do not vote to their liking.
András László, Fidesz MEP, reinforced this criticism with an address in the European Parliament when he said that the EP has brought Article 7 proceedings against Hungary motivated by political goals and using lies. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has withheld tens of billions of euros from Hungary as form of political blackmail, he said. András László has called for the immediate release of these funds, but also for the withdrawal of the EUR 200 million penalty, plus EUR 1 million additional penalty imposed on Hungary for refusing to adopt the European migration pact. “Hungary is a democracy, and you have been lying”, closed his words the MEP.
Although Weber himself was magnanimous regarding the release of the EU funds for his political ally in Hungary, the European Greens demanded the strict implementation of the Commission’s 27 point list of demands previously submitted to the Orbán government. Terry Reintke, chair of the Greens’ EP group, welcomed the political change in Hungary, but cautioned that the new government must implement the necessary rule-of-law reforms, as the constitutional and legal environment does not change automatically. By most opinions though the implementation of the changes demanded by the Greens and the Commission would bring severe restriction as far as Hungary’s national sovereignty is concerned.
The European socialist have hit a more generous tone though. Iratxe García Pérez, chair of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, said the new Hungarian government should be supported in its efforts to return to the mainstream of European decision-making. She emphasized that the new cabinet faces serious challenges and reforms related to the rule of law, the implementation of which pro-European forces are helping to facilitate through cooperation during this transitional process, which is currently still in the preparatory phase.
Via MTI; Photo: MTI/Bodnár Boglárka
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