Von der Leyen: Hungarians made Europe stronger, Hungarian commissioner: This is not the EU we dreamt of
The people of Hungary have made Europe stronger, their vibrant culture and economic dynamism rippled through the entire EU, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in her video address on Wednesday, marking the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s EU accession.
Von der Leyen: Hungarians made Europe stronger
“Twenty years ago today, our family was finally united in a common home. Hungary has always been at the heart of Europe,” von der Leyen said in the video posted on her social media page.
But behind the Iron Curtain, Leyen said, generations of Hungarians had fought bravely to reconquer their freedom.
“Twenty years ago you chose to reclaim your rightful place at the centre of our continent. You chose Europe,” the EC president said.
Europe has grown stronger ever since, she said, adding that Hungary had also flourished in countless ways with new schools, hospitals and highways built and homegrown renewable energy developed mostly with the help of EU funding.
Von der Leyen noted the two Nobel Prizes Hungarian scientists won last year. “Katalin Kariko’s discoveries helped develop the mRNA vaccines that helped beat Covid and saved countless lives. And Ferenc Krausz brought us closer to understanding how matter around us is made,” she said, adding that “both prizes are the result of Hungarian ingenuity”.
“We are stronger together. Happy anniversary and long live Europe!” said von der Leyen.
Government official: ‘This is not the kind of EU we dreamt about’
Hungary’s twenty years of EU membership can be summed up by saying that “this is not the kind of European Union we dreamt about,” a state secretary of the prime minister’s office said, marking the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s accession to the bloc.
Csaba Dömötör said in a video on Facebook that 20 years ago many had felt that after a 20th century beset by tragedies, EU membership could play a key role in having the 21st century be “the century of the Hungarian people”.
Back then EU membership came with the promise of greater prosperity, the state secretary said, adding that after centuries of others deciding on Hungary’s fate, “we could finally feel that we could be an equal member”.
He said the old motto of “unity in diversity” had since disappeared, with many now questioning the right of nations to exist, while minority opinions were being persecuted.
Dömötör said they had thought that the EU would continue to build on the Christian traditions that had helped Europe survive, but today there were “barely any signs of Christian Democratic policies”. He said they had also hoped that EU enlargement would end the divide in Europe, “but instead we got a large dose of double standards, as well as a lot of experience about how a given measure is perfectly acceptable if it comes from a large member state, but is destructive to democracy if it comes from us”.
It had also been naive to think, he said, that decision-makers in Brussels would have accountability. Instead, he added, harmful decisions barely had any consequences.
Europe by today had also forgotten about the importance of peace, Dömötör said, adding that “instead of hearing voices of peace, we’re now seeing preparations for war, with Brussels at the centre.”
Hungary’s EU membership is a national interest, and the Hungarian government believes in European cooperation, the state secretary said. “But Brussels today, in the political sense, is not synonymous with Europe, so criticising its decisions does not go against the confidence in European cooperation,” he added.
“The reason the Hungarian government raises its voice is exactly because what’s being done in Brussels today endangers not just Hungary, but all of Europe,” he said. Dömötör said change was needed in the EU.
Meanwhile, Barna Pál Zsigmond, parliamentary state secretary of the European affairs ministry, also called for change in Brussels, saying that at stake in the June EP election was whether there would be war or peace.
Marking the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s EU accession, Zsigmond said in a Facebook video that the question after two decades in the EU was not whether or not Hungary wanted to remain a part of Europe, but rather whether Europe wanted to remain what it was and what kind of a Europe the people wanted.
“We Hungarians want neither a war-torn continent, nor a continent of immigrants,” he said. “We want a peaceful Europe where nations and our families live in peace, a Europe which doesn’t go to war irresponsibly, doesn’t take in tens of millions of immigrants, one which believes in the power of nation states and stands up in defence of Judeo-Christian culture.”
Zsigmond said Brussels had sought out to “wind up” what Europe had been up until now without receiving a mandate to do so from the people.
Change is needed in Europe is in need of change, “but it is us who have to make it happen; we must preserve our national sovereignty”, he said.
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13 Comments
Von der Leyen wants support for a second term. The support will not come from Hungary if socialists will fail to win seats.
In a nutshell, if Hungary is not happy, you can leave
This is not the Hungary the EU dreamt of. Never forget that when Fidesz politicians spew their hatred of “Brussels” they are spewing their hatred of Europe itself because the decisions made in Brussels by the EU are made by the elected representatives that come from all of the member states. Leave if you don’t like it.
In comparison with other eastern European countries that joined the EU 20 years ago Hungary under Fidesz has been a failure and Hungarians know it. The Czech’s achieved 90% of the EU average in GDP, Poland 80% while Hungary lags at 76% at a similar level as Romania. In terms of personal consumption per person Hungary would be at the bottom but for Bulgaria. Pensions have declined from 52% of the EU average in 2004 to 45% in 2021. It is not the EU but the Fidesz government that has failed completely to make something of the opportunity that was given to it upon joining. What are Hungarians going to do about it? Peter Magyar offers an exit from Fidesz failure.
@Jose, well said.
I think that the Orban Gov is right to refuse to be pushed around by Von Der Liar moreover, i really do think the Hungarians should say Goodbye to the EU as it is financially and morally bankrupt.
Surly the Hungarians can join the SCO or BRICS as the EU has certainly been taken over by Globalists who want to create another version of the CCCP .
@abe – thanks to our Politicians policies (buy an airport, buy votes, build a commercially non-viable railroad, another stadium, etc.) we are running MASSIVE budget deficits. We should be around the 3 percent mark, MAX:
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-euro-indicators/w/2-22042024-cp
Scroll down to Hungary – and weep. Especially since OUR bonds carry massive interest. We NEED EU “free” money to stay afloat, never mind increase pay for doctors, nurses, and teachers (Politicians are indexed – they took care of themselves).
This basically means our Politicians will need to act. Possible pathways are austerity measures (they love to spend), increase revenues – but with our World Beating VAT rate we cannot go higher, there and our Politicians keep on banging on how important it is to keep the corporate tax rate at single digit (as the world moves to a minimum of 15 percent), well… Public sector reform? Hmmm. Fiscal rules and discipline? Not their thing, either.
Our Politicians are betting on a single horse (and obviously not too successful – look at the facts and data, not the spin) and that is economic growth.
Re leaving the EU to join another organization – that would be the epitome of crazy:
https://tradingeconomics.com/hungary/share-of-trade-with-the-eu-share-of-exports-to-eu-eurostat-data.html
The Brits did – if you like horror stories, give this a go (do not forget to click through to the Box 2.4 analysis – more sobering reading):
https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/the-economy-forecast/brexit-analysis/#indepth
“Hungarians made Europe stronger”
What a glib, vacuous, meaningless thing to say. Such a weak, empty, pathetic statement… – much like the E.U. itself. The organization is now a ponderous, bureaucratic, endlessly corrupt megalomania without a vision, without a direction, without a purpose. It is just another cog in the great globalist-socialist machinery, aiming to make us ordinary citizens poorer, more regulated by the state, more dependent by the state, as well as less safe (due to rampant illegal immigration) and less mobile (due to Climate Changeâ„¢ hysteria).
The sooner this house of cards collapses, the better.
Hungarians wonder why they are not taken seriously…..because it has adopted the mindset of a small, rowdy and petty nation…. ‘collective narcissism’ and ‘pensioner populism’, while youth and working age emigrate….
I take exception to Michael Steiner’s comment. Von der Leyen does her job politically in promoting unity and welcoming Hungary even though the Fidesz government does not in any way deserve the generosity of her comments. The Fidesz government on the other hand engages in bad taste and in petulant commentary after raking in tens of billions of Euros over the years in free money from the EU to build Hungary. It’s like being invited to dinner in someone’s house and then complaining about the cooking. No manners.
The biggest lie of today is, that the EU or “European project” is Europe! Nothing is further from the truth. The so-called European project is anti Europe!
The EU can and will not be changed, and it has to be destroyed to safe the real Europe and its native people.
Working together in Europe or the world doesn’t need a centralized dictatorship!
What a hypocritical lier this von der fos is. You tried and tried, and failed and failed to Destroy Hungary. We are still standing. You and your hypocritical farce of a Democracy, and you War – You crane lovers: Need To Go!
Let us talk about deficit, the EU deficit under Von der Leyen is 11+ trillion. That is 12 zeros after the 11. The European agricultural industry is ruined. This woman spends as much time hugging Zelensky then attending to the problems of the rest of EU.
Let us face some facts. 1. Europe has been impoverished under Ursula. 2. High debt accumulated yet Ursula is supporting a non-member country with billions while young Dutch citizens cannot buy or rent a home. 3. Ursula encouraged illegal migration into the EU of uneducated, unassimilable immigrants, immigrants that have to be supported by the citizens. 4. Ursula encouraged the brainwashing and mutilation of young children instead of allowing them to outgrow childish tendencies. 5. Under Ursula’s leadership, the quality of education has dropped, in the future, European children will not be able to compete with Chinese trained kids; this is due to overcrowding of migrant students, students whose cultural differences cannot allow them to fit. 6. Ursula’s support of Ukraine is asinine. No country at war was ever given membership to the EU. Balkan countries meeting all categories have waited 14+ years and their membership is still in limbo while Ukraine’s membership is on fast tract.
Ursula Von der Leyen and the present EU Parliament reps failed the citizens. A new EU government is needed to correct the socialist mistakes.
If you are wondering why Von der Leyen gets the blame, because she is the leader. The wise American President Truman had a sign on his desk “the buck stops here”; both good results and bad results are the leader’s responsibility.