Analysing Orbán’s possible Huxit: geopolitical expert weighs in

According to Lóránt Győrfi, geopolitical analyst at Political Capital, the Hungarian prime minister may indeed have been joking when he said he did not support Hungary’s EU membership. However, he thinks Orbán’s comment on Huxit was no accident.

As we reported recently, Viktor Orbán invited foreign presenters to an informal conversation after an international media conference held at Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC). During the conversation, Orbán reportedly said that he personally was not in favour of Hungary remaining a member of the European Union which stirred rumours of a possible Huxit.

It is not quite obvious what Orbán really wants

In an interview given to Népszava, Lóránt Győrfi said that it is not yet clear whether Orbán is really preparing for Huxit. But he added that by questioning whether the country’s membership makes sense, there is a possibility that the prime minister is trying to make room for a possible exit.

As he said,

whether Viktor Orbán was joking or not, it is no coincidence that he was talking about Hungary’s EU membership in a negative context. It fits in with the trend.

The analyst stressed that although a large part of the Hungarian population still supports EU membership, the government has been “fighting” the EU for a long time, considering its rhetoric. Furthermore, since the war in Ukraine, Hungarian foreign policy has become even more isolated and distant from the European mainstream, he added.

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Rtl.hu noticed that the Austrian eXXpress had also published an article about the informal meeting, as its editor-in-chief was present. According to the portal, Orbán also said that he believed that normal people should not want to stay in the EU, but they had to do so. He believes that the current political system in Europe will soon collapse.

Does Orbán not want the EU membership because of his personality?

The Hungarian entrepreneur Gábor Bojár told Klubrádió that he thinks Orbán has the kind of personality that could really lead the country out of the EU. He said that if it had been entirely up to the prime minister, Hungary would not have joined the EU back then. Bojár recalled that at the time, he had also dropped a sentence about it, saying “there is life outside the EU.”

Although it is clear, and Orbán reportedly said something similar during that informal meeting, if Hungary were to leave the EU, it would not be good for the country economically. However, Bojár believed that even with great economic damage, Orbán would rather be outside the EU. He argued that Orbán would certainly not want his power to be limited.

He added that Orbán probably also enjoys the fact that he is often mentioned in the political news. Indeed, Bojár could not think of another political leader in history who has ever been talked about so much.

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Source: DNH, nepszava.hu, rtl.hu, eXXpress.at, klubradio.hu