Another plot against our country has been formulated at an online conference organized and moderated by the German Greens MEP Daniel Freund, a staunch Hungary-hater.
The panel discussion was also attended by Klara Dobrev, a Hungarian DK MEP, a correspondent for the German Suddeutsche Zeitung and Daniel Hegedus, a Hungarian researcher at the Washington-based, self-proclaimed independent German Marshall Fund policy institute.
According to Daniel Freund, "Make Europe Great Again" - the motto of the Hungarian EU presidency - sounds worrying because it is a take off on Trump's motto, who used it to incite his followers to take over the Capitol. Viktor Orban now wants to take over Brussels, Freund said, also expressing regret that Hungary, with a number of EU sanctions and penalties in effect against it, now holds the rotating EU presidency. He said the Hungarian government was pursuing a two-faced policy and asked his guests what they expected from the Hungarian presidency.
MEP Klara Dobrev believes that
Viktor Orban will cause symbolic, rather than practical damage in the next six months if his room for manoeuvre is not restricted.
Daniel Hegedus said that Orban is working to build a network of illiberal actors in Europe and beyond.
He was the only EU head of government to back Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 US elections.
In his view the Hungarian PM was expecting a national-minded breakthrough this year, both in the European and American elections. So far, the Marshall Fund's researcher said, the standing is a draw, but that the damage the Hungarian prime minister could cause should not be underestimated.
He will take advantage of the EU Presidency to intervene on a communications level in the elections in Georgia and Moldova, he added.
The Hungarian government will not cooperate, Hegedus opined, urging European partners to come up with a Plan B, as they have always done. According to the Suddeutsche Zeitung correspondent, if they let him, the Hungarian prime minister will make the most of the opportunities offered by Hungary holding the EU presidency.
Despite the current unstable European political climate, Hegedus maintains that Hungary will take over the presidency in a comfortable environment, as political processes in the Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere have started to turn in Viktor Orban's favor.
Dobrev, on the other hand, forecasts that this will be a conflict-filled six months in which Viktor Orban will have many symbolic disputes with other member states. She says the good election results of Orban's Fidesz party will embolden the Hungarian government to be even more aggressive within the EU.
