Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s policy chief, said changes are needed in the European Union. He added that a confident right-wing force in Brussels following the European parliamentary elections next year would be essential in ushering in those changes.
According to MTI, Orbán said “Brussels” had been taken hostage by a “pro-war and corrupt elite”, and bad decision-making was seriously damaging Europe and its competitiveness. A strong European right-wing with Fidesz and its Christian Democrat ally acting with the broad trust of Hungarians would be instrumental in achieving changes in the European Union, he said ahead of a speech to be given by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He said opinion polls indicated that the right wing was gaining strength in all big EU countries, and he warned against the “so-called centre right” cooperating with the left, as evidence of the past five years suggested that Europe would continue to go downhill as a result. Instead, he said, the right-wing and the center-right should cooperate. Only at a later stage will Fidesz and the Christian Democrats decide which grouping to join, he added. Asked whether Fidesz saw Robert Fico, the former Slovak prime minister, as an ally, he said the party would work together with people who thought in terms of a “Europe of nations”. Asked why the government had not summoned the Russian ambassador in light of a Russian textbook describing participants of the 1956 revolution as “fascists”, he said Hungary expected all countries to subscribe to the generally accepted view that the heroes of 1956 were “the most important and distinguished actors of the Hungarian nation who deserve every respect”. The picnic meeting in Kötcse, in southern Hungary, has taken place every year since 2004, and “Where there’s home there’s freedom” is the motto of the year’s event.
Photo credit: Facebook/Orbán Balázs