Published: 22.11.2023
It is a minimal and rightful expectation that the Hungarian Member of the European Commission clearly state his position on the Fidesz government’s deceitful consultation questions attacking the European Union; failure to do so should result in his resignation from the College of Commissioners, which the Hungarian government believes is harming the Hungarian people, MEP István Ujhelyi said at an online press conference held on Tuesday during the Strasbourg plenary session.
At the same time, the Social Democrat politician said that he had sent the questions of the latest national consultation in writing earlier in the day to Olivér Várhelyi, the Hungarian Commissioner for Enlargement Policy at the European Commission. According to Ujhelyi, it is Várhelyi’s duty to take a clear and unequivocal position on the content of the government consultation, while at the same time „giving guidance” to Hungarian citizens. „We are curious to see if you will have the courage and the backbone to do so,” the MEP addressed Várhelyi in the video posted on his social media page.
In the context of the new plenary debate on the state of the rule of law in Hungary, which was on the agenda of Tuesday’s session of the European Parliament, István Ujhelyi stressed that if the Fidesz government had not deliberately gone against European values and regulations, „to the shame of all Hungarians, but especially Fidesz”, Hungary would not be on the EP’s agenda again and we would have been able to use the funds we are entitled to long ago. He said that only Fidesz, with its unlimited governmental power, bears „total and absolute responsibility” for the current state of affairs.
According to Ujhelyi, the government billboards with the portrait of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the recent national consultation „seriously upset” the European partners. The founder of the Community of Chance believes that the Fidesz government’s new anti-EU campaign is completely unnecessary and is causing serious damage to relations between the EU and Hungary.
As a „political witness”, the Social Democrat MEP also recalled that while he had not voted for the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen because of the way the new Commission President was selected and elected, Fidesz actively supported and praised the German politician who is now on the posters. Ujhelyi also pointed out that a few years ago, the governing party press celebrated the election of von der Leyen by claiming that, as he quoted one of the headlines, „George Soros’ pseudo-civilian forces have suffered a major defeat.”
The MEP also pointed out that Viktor Orbán himself had praised the current President of the European Commission for a long time, and had repeatedly called her election a good decision from Hungary’s perspective. „Now, either Viktor Orbán is such a bad judge of character, and a bad political strategist, or he is simply a liar,” said the MEP, assessing Fidesz’s pivot in relation to Ursula von der Leyen. Ujhelyi added that the reality is that Orbán and Fidesz are once again going against the EU on the motorway, they have turned away from Europe towards Putin and they are the ones are breaking the rules, not the other way round. That is why, according to István Ujhelyi, the consultation and the inciting poster campaign can best be compared to a political own goal much like the one the Bulgarians scored against the Hungarian national team in the last minute.
Strasbourg/Budapest – 21/11/2023