EU leaders risk dragging Europe into war, Orbán’s Fidesz believes

Developments over the last few weeks have shown that the “European Union elite” is doubling down on defying the will of the voters, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz said on Sunday, warning that this could have “tragic consequences” when it comes to the bloc’s policy on the war in Ukraine.

Csaba Dömötör told public radio that the coalition agreement signed by the European People’s Party, the Socialist and Liberal EP groups this week and adopted on Thursday, reinforcing their support for Ukraine, also contained “the most aggressive EP resolution yet”.

He said the resolution calls for member states to commit 0.25 percent of their annual GDP to providing military support to Ukraine, noting that in Hungary’s case this would amount to 200 billion forints (EUR 483.8m). The resolution also lists the types of weapons member states are expected to send and proposes expanding sanctions on Russia to cover natural gas and uranium, he added.

PM Orbán in Brussels. Photo: facebook.com/orbanviktor

This, he said, would render Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant inoperable and gas would become far more expensive.

Dömötör said the resolution also calls on member states to “actively put pressure on Hungary to give in” on matters related to the war.

He said the EP wanted to continue the US Democratic administration’s policy, “even though it was defeated a few weeks ago”.

The MEP said that “although there are now slightly more references being made to peace and peace talks”, the call for peace was absent from the resolution, “and the slogan remains that Ukraine should be supported for as long as necessary”.

Meanwhile, Dömötör said the resolution also called for supporting the Russian opposition, adding he believed that the bloc should instead be focused on fixing its economy and ensuring peace.

He said the resolution’s call for cooperation with South Korea was a reaction to reports of North Korean troops being deployed in Ukraine, calling it “grossly irresponsible” for the EP to call for “further escalatory steps” in the current situation.

Noting that the resolution was not legally binding, he said history showed that binding decisions in the bloc tended to be preceded by these kinds of resolutions.

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