Chief of Tisza Party Strikes Deal with Ill-Wisher of Hungary

To avoid the lifting of his immunity, Peter Magyar could be relying on help from Manfred Weber, who has long been an ill-wisher of Hungary, has attacked PM Orban's government countless times, and strongly supports the withholding of EU funds Hungary is entitled to. In return for his support, the Bavarian president of the European People's Party will no doubt expect the president of the Tisza Party to dance to his tune in the future.

Source: Facebook/Peter Magyar

At a meeting on Monday, an agreement was likely reached between Peter Magyar, president of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party, and European People's Party (EPP) President Manfred Weber, EPP group leader in the European Parliament, regarding the Hungarian MEP's immunity. 

As is known, Peter Magyar has repeatedly stated recently that he will not waive his immunity after Hungary's Prosecutor General Peter Polt sent a request to the EP president asking for the suspension of the Hungarian MEP's immunity. The reason for the request is that in June, Peter Magyar was involved in a brawl in a downtown nightclub in Budapest. According to the authorities, he committed theft by taking a guest's phone and dropping it deliberately into the Danube.

During this spring's election campaign, the leader of the Tisza Party called for the abolishing of the immunity of MEPs, but now that he is embroiled in a scandal, he takes a completely different view on the issue. Most recently, he has come forward with the unrealistic condition that he is ready to waive his immunity if Hungary joins the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

The EP group of European People's Party, with the Tisza Party included as a member, will certainly defend Magyar and will not support lifting his immunity. Manfred Weber, Hungary's ill-wisher, is lending help to Magyar in order to avoid going to court in Hungary, but later this support will obviously come at a price.

The German politician has long been a fierce enemy of Hungary and PM Orban's government. He attacked Hungary's government and the prime minister personally over several issues, even when Fidesz was a member of the European People's Party.

He voted against Hungary

On December 11 2018, Weber said that he voted against Hungary, not against Viktor Orban or the Fidesz, when he voted in favor of triggering a procedure under Article 7 inquiring into rule of law issues. "Please allow me to remind everybody that I was voting against the country, not against Fidesz, not against Viktor Orban, against the whole country," he said.

Alongside Hungarian left-wing MEPs, the EPP chief voted in favor of twenty-one resolutions against Hungary, and has backed migration and mandatory quotas from the start. Manfred Weber is a truly Hungarophobic person, said Lorinc Nacsa, spokesman for the parliamentary group of Hungary's Christian Democratic People's Party, on June 29 2024.

Weber opposed the disbursement of EU funds to Hungary

In January this year, the Bavarian politician sent a letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, calling on her to get the European Parliament to somehow prevent the disbursement of EU funds to Hungarians unlocked in December, following approval by the European Commission. "We remain unconvinced of the European Commission’s reasoning and call on you to request an assessment of this decision from the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control and other competent services," said Manfred Weber.

Attack against Hungary holding the EU presidency

In an interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung in July 2024, the politician of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU),

when asked whether Hungary should be stripped of the EU's rotating presidency, said that Viktor Orban should be fought not by technical means, but by political means, because the former would only reinforce his narrative. Speaking about the Hungarian prime minister's diplomacy, he said that it is not a peace mission, but a mission to prolong the war, which calls into question Europe's credibility.

Also in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, in 2022 Weber criticized the Hungarian government's position on the oil embargo against Russia. "Honestly, I'm tired of Viktor Orban setting the pace," the Bavarian politician said. If the Hungarian government is "not ready to give up on blocking", then the EU must be allowed to move forward leaving the "slowest" behind, he added.

He insulted the Hungarian people

Earlier, Viktor Orban disclosed that in 2019, he agreed with the German politician that he would support his election as president of the European Commission. However, two days later, Weber publicly stated that he did not want to win this office with the votes of the Hungarians. In March 2019, when asked on German public television "what would you do if you could only win the post of European Commission president with the votes of the populist Fidesz?" Weber replied that he would rather not take the job because he does not want to be elected with right-wing votes, he wants to represent the center.

Pro-migration policy

Weber has repeatedly stated that the EU needs solidarity and the sharing of burden, and has supported the admission of twenty thousand refugees from Syria. In contrast, Viktor Orban asked for the EU's contribution to Hungary's border protection costs years ago. Weber also emphasized that solidarity is not a one-way street and that all EU countries must respect with refugee quotas.

In recent years, the Bavarian politician has made several pro-migration statements and supported the introduction of an obligatory distribution mechanism. The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings

against Hungary over the migration issue. The EU institutions are ready to introduce a permanent distribution system, but the selfishness of some member states is holding the process back, according the Weber.

Double-dealing re border protection

Manfred Weber previously criticized Donald Trump's border fence and stressed the need to build bridges, not walls. According to the chief of the European People's Party, solidarity and security are inseparable, and Europe must remain a continent of solidarity. Weber's duplicity is evidenced by the fact that, although he had previously criticized Hungary over erecting the border fence, he supported the Finland's border fence in May this year.

To date, Brussels has not contributed to the costs of Hungary's border protection efforts, although the border barrier on the EU' external border protects the whole of Europe from mass migration.