dispute over the rule of law
Orban hints at Hungary’s exit from the EU for the first time
2/12/2022, 8:27 p.m
Should the European Court of Justice wave the EU’s new rule of law mechanism through, it could mean severe financial losses for Hungary. Prime Minister Orban is therefore for the first time seriously doubting whether his country will remain in the EU.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has hinted at the possibility of his country leaving the EU for the first time. Under the slogan of the rule of law, the European Union is waging “a holy war, a jihad,” said the right-wing politician in a speech to supporters in Budapest. At the same time he called for “tolerance” towards Hungary from the EU. Otherwise it will not be possible to continue on a common path.
Orban spoke a few days before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg is to rule on the EU’s new rule of law mechanism. The regulation stipulates that countries that violate the principles of the rule of law can have funds from the common EU budget cut. Hungary and Poland had appealed against the mechanism decided in December 2020. The ECJ is scheduled to announce its judgment next Wednesday (February 16).
EU bodies and human rights organizations accuse Orban, who has governed Hungary since 2010, of dismantling democracy and the rule of law. Orban countered this assessment this Saturday. “For them, the rule of law is a means by which they want to knead us into something that resembles them,” he said. However, Hungary would not want to become like Western Europe, just as it does not expect the West to adopt Hungarian asylum or family policies. Hungary wants to keep the EU together “despite growing cultural alienation”. That is why Budapest has repeatedly made “offers of tolerance” to both Brussels and Berlin. “There is no other solution, only tolerance. This is the only way we can find a common path,” Orban continued.
Almost 80 percent of people in Hungary welcome EU membership. In the past, Orban had repeatedly launched sharp attacks against the “bureaucrats in Brussels” but held back on exit threats. His annual State of the Union address coincided with the start of the election campaign. On April 3, Hungarians will elect a new parliament. For the first time, Orban is facing a united opposition whose alliance ranges from left to right. Opinion polls predict a neck-and-neck race.