János Bóka, the EU affairs minister, said the year 2023 was one of “failures” for the European Union.
In a post on Facebook, Bóka said the EU had “failed to take a constructive role in restoring peace and security in Europe … Brussels supports war and will do everything to get Europe directly involved in the conflict.” It had also failed “to provide enough help to its members to restart their economies after the crisis and bolster the bloc’s global competitiveness,” he said, also accusing the EU of failing to stop illegal migration or help member states protect the external borders. “Brussels abandoned European farmers and took sides with Ukrainian oligarchs,” he added. “Brussels has done nothing to fight corruption or conflicts of interest within the EU institutions, but it uses [the restriction of] access to community funding to exert direct political pressure,” the minister said. But, Bóka added, referring to the upcoming European parliamentary elections, 2024 “could be a year of change”, with pressure on Brussels “to support peace rather than war, to focus on connectivity and competitiveness instead of economic isolation and unreasonable central planning.” He also said the EU should only allow legal entry to its territory, and ensure fair conditions for European farmers as well as sovereignty to the EU in terms of food supplies. “Access to EU funds should not be a tool of political pressure,” he added.