Hungary did not support Ursula von der Leyen's second term as president because the work of the European Commission has been incredibly weak over the past five years, Viktor Orban stated in an interview on Kossuth Radio's Good Morning, Hungary program. The PM argued that the people deserve much more.
More changes are needed
As he pointed out, European politics operates under a different system from the one we are used to in Hungary: "Von der Leyen is not their political opponent, but their employee, as it is the job of the Commission president to implement the directional guidelines set by the heads of national governments". If Europeans want change in the EU, they can achieve it through national elections, he stressed, expressing the hope that these will change the composition of prime ministers to those who will give Ursula von der Leyen better instructions. There will be battles to fight with Manfred Weber, among others, in the European Parliament. "We have made great progress, but we have not yet achieved a breakthrough," he added.
"I am still keeping to - I wouldn't call it a promise - but I am keeping to my plan that by the end of the year patriots will be in the majority in the Western world," Mr Orban stated.
The problem with European politics, in his view, is that European leaders are not doing what the European electorate wants.
"The question is: what do Hungarian people want, and it is up to the elected leaders to make it happen. If there is a complex issue, they are to help people understand it, and have a clear position on it, which is reflected in government decisions. That is how democracy works," he explained.
The Patriots' offer is clear
The PM stressed that it is not viable that the people think something, want something, and the leaders conveniently forget it. He cited the example of Weber, who opened up to the Left and then made an alliance with the Right. "People want migration to be stopped, they don't want their families to be scoffed at and ridiculed and compared on the same level as other non-traditional cohabitation forms genders. Whereas the Left identifies with this and advocates it. People want national sovereignty, the Left does not. The European people want a different Europe from the one they are being offered. There is a clear, better offer - a vision, spearheaded by the Patriots for Europe, which we have now created, in the center," he said, adding that the European People's Party (EPP), working in the center, could have chosen to turn right, but ended up going left.
- "This is where we are now. This will change, we are working on it," Mr Orban said, adding that alliances will soon be forged and the Patriots will be the second largest group in the EP.
Europe must be competitive
He also noted that if we are competitive, we live well, but if we lose our competitiveness, we live badly. European competitiveness is already considered an important issue by the EU. "The key focus of the Hungarian EU presidency is improving European competitiveness. On November 8, a Council meeting will be held in Budapest where I will put forth a competitiveness pact. This will hopefully correct the mistakes we've seen so far," he added.
It is very difficult to improve competitiveness when the EU supports Ukraine with a lot of money, he opined, adding that if a peace policy was in place, the EU’s economy would also perform better. He emphasized that a peace budget would double the performance of Hungary’s economy.
"When we stand for peace, we are also working for Hungary," he added.
The world wants peace
"I am the only one who has spoken to both sides, but these sides do not want peace. Both sides believe that they can win the war, that time will give them an advantage. And the peace talks will come one day, but they hope to gain an advantage by then," PM Orban said.
According to Viktor Orban, the Europeans think that if we tell President Putin not to bomb, he won't, or if they ask the Ukrainian president, he won't shoot deep into Russia. In his view, there is no point in appealing to their better selves, but the sides must be told that whole world wants peace because it is bad for those who are near and for those who are far away. They should be put on track, they should be led to understand that this is what the whole world is waiting for. "The Chinese, Europeans and Americans can achieve this, they just need to be able to assert themselves," he said.
The Chinese are pro-peace, change could come in America if Donald Trump succeeds in winning the election, and then only we Europeans are needed, he added.
