Having lost the United Kingdom, Europe is in bad shape, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in the Hungarian Parliament on Monday, adding that while Hungary and Poland may have won last week, “difficult issues remain ahead”.
In his speech before the agenda, Orbán also spoke about the end of a six-month series of talks at the European Council last weekend. He explained that Europe is in a bad place today.
“We have lost the UK, which was one of the largest economies in Europe, and the coronavirus has also spread to the European continent,” he said.
He recalled that half a year ago, Germany had taken over the presidency of the European Council, and the decision had been made to set up a recovery fund to modernize the European economy due to the coronavirus crisis. The German proposal involved European nations taking a loan together and using it to create a recovery fund called Next Generation. Orbán pointed out that every penny of the fund was in the form of a loan that needed to be repaid, and whichever country failed to do so would leave other countries responsible for those debts.
“We weren’t happy about that, but we adopted the German crisis management concept because of the countries in trouble,” he said.
Orbán said that between July and November, the Germans negotiated with the European Parliament and finally reached an agreement that would have tied the basis for recovery to clear political and ideological conditions , adding that political attacks on Hungary had begun.
‘We have won’
“A senior German official said: ‘Now we will have a tool that will be very painful for Hungary and Poland,'” Orbán said, referencing that Hungary and Poland had then announced their opposition to the European Parliament and Germany’s presidency of the European Council’s agreement.
“Eventually common sense prevailed last weekend. We defended the money of the Hungarians and the sovereignty of the country,” Orbán said, who thanked the Poles for their camaraderie and cooperation.
“Overall, it is not an exaggeration to say that we have won,” he said, pointing out that this decision had succeeded in preserving the unity of Europe.
“I have defended the European constitution, we have averted the danger of imposing immigrants on Hungary with budget funds, and we have protected the money of the Hungarians which Hungary deserves, and it will receive,” the prime minister said.
According to Orbán, the results they achieved show that the EU can only function successfully as a community of nations.
“The debate was about who will govern the European Union in the future: the elected heads of government, or George Soros,” he said.
Awakening at the last minute
According to the prime minister, at the last minute, European governments “woke up “and made unanimous decisions.
“An important phase has been completed, but difficult issues remain open,” he said, mentioning the European Commission’s Migration Action Plan as one such difficult issue.
“It describes the need to continue importing migrants and even give them housing assistance and the right to vote,” Orbán said, adding that 34 million migrants are mentioned in the action plan. He also said that if that were not enough, a gender action plan would also be on the table.
“Hungary is right in opposing the migration and gender action plan with all its might,” the prime minister said, adding that “Hungarian families should be supported instead of immigrants, and the traditional family model instead of gender.”
Title image: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaks during the plenary session of Parliament on December 14, 2020. (MTI/Tibor Illyés)
