Hungary’s PM and EU’s most isolated leader says he is pursuing ‘friendship with everybody’ – particularly the former US president
Europe’s most isolated leader was beaming.
Standing in a hallway in Brussels, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, spoke excitedly about the politician he hopes will change his political fortunes – Donald Trump.
The longtime leader, who has been widely criticised for undermining Hungary’s democratic institutions and cultivating ties with Moscow and Beijing, has been busy building an international far-right network of political allies, from Brazil to Austria.
His strategy, experts say, centres on the bet that nationalist and far-right forces are on the rise. And at the core of his calculus is the wager that change is coming in Washington DC.
Approached by the Guardian this month as he was rushing after a meeting with Polish and French nationalists, Orbán, who rarely speaks to independent media, stopped to defend his foreign policy choices – and cheer for Trump.
Afaik, some important events will coincide in 2024:
● Resurgence of far-right parties on European level due to new elections later this year, and the 2024 US presidential elections.
● Per second half 2024 (July 1 to the end of 2024) Hungary will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, putting it in charge of the EU’s policy-making process for six months.
● Recently, there are many new developments: there have been multiple indictments & arrests of members of EP and local members of Parliaments across memberstates for spying charges [ Add: new polls suggest that this has lead to a decrease in the popularity of the far-right ].
In Hungary a new political opposition leader is rising ; Mr Magyar.
The EU is passing a new disinformation bill, to stop anti-democratic players and institutions.
Also, there are many discussions whether Hungary [Orbán], should or could hold the position of being President of The Council, considering its anti-democratic, anti-EU, and pro-CCP and pro-Putin stance [ Hungary has signed a “security contract” with China recently, enabling the surveillance in Hungary, by Chinese police officers]
link balkaninsight