Manfred Weber's Revenge Campaign Against Hungarians

The politician blames Viktor Orban for his failures caused by his avarice.

German Defence minister and newly-appointed EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen (R) and EU Parliament's political group EPP president Manfred Weber arrive for a meeting during the first plenary session of the newly elected European Assembly at the European Parliament on July 3, 2019 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP) Fotó: AFP/FREDERICK FLORIN

Weber had ambitious aspirations for the top post of the European Commission, but despite the failure, he is unable to accept defeat.

His revenge campaign against Hungarians is nothing more than the bitterness of a politician who is unable to come to terms with his failure.

Instead of self-scrutiny after a race for such a significant position, Weber opted for accusations, a simple and easy path for scheming. The politician's statements suggest that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Hungarians are responsible for his personal failures. In fact, however, Weber owes his failure to himself and is now using Hungarians as a scapegoat to take revenge for his humiliation, V4NA reported.

Manfred Weber's greed had caught the eye when he used a creative accounting ploy and declared his house as the party's office in order to save office rental costs. Back then, MEPs received 4,332 euros per month as general reimbursement primarily for running a formal office, as set out in the guidelines. The MEPs were not accountable for the expenditures, no invoices had to be presented, and Weber saw a great opportunity in this loophole. With this canny move, he pocketed handsome money and undermined his entire political career.

 V4NA’s crew saw with their own eyes in Wildenberg that Weber didn’t even bother to put up a sign on his gate, indicating that the house is his office.

Weber arrives at the "office" rented from himself on 30 April 2019. Photo: V4NA

Let us do the math! In the 15 years since 2004 – which is 180 months – if we only registered half of the 4,332 euros as unspent rental cost, we would get 180 x 2,150 euros, which is nearly 400,000 euros. Moreover, Weber could easily use this amount to cover his house’s entire utilities expenses, as Brussels never required any invoices. Weber does not bother with such trivial details. He knows how best to spend European taxpayers’ money.

The Hungarian-hating politician has had fits of spontaneous amnesia repeatedly during the current EU term, for example when he told the German Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper that "options are needed to reduce the pension claims of corrupt MEPs in the event of confirmed misconduct".

Such a statement would run counter to the principles that promote the rule of law and transparency.

It is also worth noting that the European People's Party itself could be implicated in the corruption scandal in Brussels, the biggest scandal in the history of the European Parliament and one that has shaken trust in the EU institutions fundamentally. The politician's statements and the party's possible involvement in the graft raise further questions about the integrity of the EPP and the European Parliament.

The political landscape is diverse, but sometimes petty revenge and envy come to  prevail. The Hungarians now find themselves in a political game where reality is mingled with revenge, but hopefully truth and justice will triumph.

Cover photo: European Commission President  Ursula von der Leyen and Manfred Weber, German EP group leader of the European People’s Party in Strasbourg on July 3, 2019 (Photo: AFP/Frederick Florin)