BREAKING: PM Orbán in Kyiv for talks with President Zelensky – a step towards peace?

Orbán added that Hungary “knows its place in the world, its strengths, and its faults”, and would contribute to European values over the next six months. “There will be surprising developments,” he said.

Regarding illegal migration, the Prime Minister stated that the EU’s migration pact was not working and that the bloc needed to move on from it.

Orbán recommended that Brussels should not penalise Hungary for its refusal to accept migrants, suggesting instead that the EU and other capitals adopt Hungary’s migration policy. “Everything would suddenly become simpler,” he added.

Migration and trade war

Addressing the Hungarian presidency’s aim of boosting Europe’s competitiveness, Orbán said it had been a mistake to introduce “big international taxes”. “Taxes are detrimental, and stimulating the economy requires supporting economic players,” he said.

He mentioned that Hungary planned to revise measures “purported to protect certain industries, particularly the automotive sector, from Eastern industries”. He explained that during preparations for the presidency, he had spoken with major car manufacturers’ leaders, who indicated they did not support such measures as they would lose much more “when the Easterners retaliate”.

Orbán warned that the EU was on the brink of a trade war with the East, which it was likely to lose.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the need to “radically rethink and reshape” the EU’s green energy policy, arguing that in recent years it had led to increased coal usage in Europe while energy prices had doubled or even tripled.

Orbán stated that Hungary planned to advance 120 legislative dossiers during its presidency. Additionally, approximately 1,500 Council working group meetings will be held, along with 37 high-level meetings and 230 events connected to the presidency. EU leaders will hold 27 summits, and the summit of the European Political Community, comprising 47 European heads of government and state, will also take place in Budapest, he added.

European voters wanted change

Orbán noted that voters in the European Parliament elections had opted for change, insisting that parties from 20 out of 27 countries, which had declared “things cannot go on like this in Brussels”, had “won”. He criticised the Belgian Prime Minister and the French government for not recognising the prevailing sentiment, adding that “the situation is precarious” in Germany.

Referring to Patriots for Europe, a new European party alliance he recently formed with Czech and Austrian right-wing parties, Orbán said change would occur as it became increasingly evident that it was needed. He stated that the new grouping promoted peace, order, security, and development, and would grow into “a large parliamentary group faster than expected”, adding that “many people will be surprised in 4-5 days’ time”.

The group’s inaugural meeting will be held on 8 July, he said, adding that alongside Portugal’s Chega, which has already announced its plan to join, “an Italian party will also join soon”. Orbán predicted the group would “quickly become the third and then the second largest” formation in Brussels. “We are the ones who want a better Europe,” he said, adding that the group’s members were “patriots who passionately love their own countries but also consider Europe important”. “They want strong European cooperation, not against Europe, but for their own countries,” Orbán said.

Von der Leyen’s performance was quite meagre

Referring to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Orbán described her performance over the past five years as “quite meagre” regarding significant issues such as the war in Ukraine, migration, and the green transition. He also accused the Commission of launching political attacks against Hungary under the guise of rule-of-law procedures, indicating he would not support her renomination.

He also criticised Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party, as a “known Hungarophobe”, suggesting that von der Leyen had been marginally preferable to a putative Weber presidency five years ago.

Regarding Antonio Costa, the candidate to chair the European Council, Orbán said Costa had “always been on good terms” with Hungary. Meanwhile, commenting on Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, nominated as the EU’s foreign policy chief, he said he had abstained from supporting her as he was unconvinced she could handle the job, “and besides, Estonia is strongly pro-war”.

Orbán said it had not been wise to exclude Italy, a founding EU state, from the negotiations on top positions, adding that “the Italians are rightly outraged”.

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