Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a staunch defender of “illiberal democracy,” has long criticized the European Union and its officials.
On Wednesday, some members of the European Parliament fired back with a song. After Orbán finished speaking at a rally in Strasbourg, France, progressive lawmakers began singing “Bella Ciao,” a song from Italy’s World War II-era anti-fascist resistance movement.
Their song lasted less than a minute before it was stopped by European Parliament President Roberta Mezzola as conservative MPs politically aligned with Mr Orban chanted slogans in support of him.
“This is not Eurovision,” Mezzola said in the chamber, referring to the annual singing contest. “Let’s respect the dignity of this house.”
The European Union, which Hungary joined in 2004, has endorsed Mr. Orbán’s right-wing nationalist positions on minority rights, immigration, the rule of law and other issues that the city of Brussels sees as sympathies for President Vladimir. I have been at odds with the cause for many years. Russian President V. Putin. Orbán is also one of the fiercest internal critics of the EU’s unyielding support for Ukraine and an ally of former President Donald Trump.
Mr Orbán has often accused the EU of interfering in Hungary’s internal affairs and promoting liberal values at odds with the country’s traditional conservative values.
Relations between Hungary, which assumed a six-month rotating EU presidency on July 1 with a primarily administrative role, have cooled in recent months.
Since taking office, Mr Orbán has visited Mr Putin in Moscow and has also been to Beijing for unannounced talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, saying that Mr Orbán has met with authoritarian leaders at odds with the EU’s values. This has raised concerns that the company may be incorporating it into other countries.
In July, he visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Trump has made no secret of his admiration for Orbán, frequently citing him as an example of support among world leaders. During last month’s presidential debate, Trump called Orbán “one of the most respected people.”
All this helped create a hostile atmosphere when Mr. Orbán appeared in parliament.
Terry Reinke, co-leader of the Green Party in the European Parliament, told Orbán: “You are not welcome here.” “This is the home of European democracy.”
Mr. Orban can sometimes complicate EU diplomacy regarding Ukraine. Hungary is blocking changes to sanctions rules requested by the US government in return for joining the US effort to loan Ukraine $50 billion, but the European Union is moving forward.
On Wednesday night, EU member states decided to proceed with a $39 billion loan to Ukraine, which will be repaid in 2022 using interest earned from about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. Ta. Hungary reportedly had no objections to the loan. to European diplomats. The proposal is expected to be voted on by the European Parliament later this month.
In a speech to parliament on Wednesday, Mr Orbán said EU policy needed to change, warning that Europe’s system for borderless travel could “collapse” if it failed to control the entry of migrants into the bloc. He said there is.
He told a nearly two-hour press conference on Tuesday that there was no way for Ukraine to win on the battlefield and that EU leaders should support a negotiated end to the war.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke in the European Parliament after Orbán, said the EU would support Ukraine as long as necessary.
“We Europeans may have a different history and a different language, but there is no European language in which peace is synonymous with surrender,” she said.
Von der Leyen said Hungary’s decision to ease visa restrictions for Russian nationals without additional security checks and to allow Chinese police to operate in Hungary had turned Hungary into a “backdoor for foreign interference”. Ta.
Mr. Orbán reiterated his support for Mr. Trump on Tuesday, the same day that prominent journalist Bob Woodward claimed in a new book that the former US president remained in contact with Mr. Putin after leaving office. . Orbán said at a press conference, “When Trump comes back, I’m going to open some bottles of champagne,” indicating that he has no hesitation about participating in the US presidential election.
On Wednesday, Orbán ended his speech by calling for “making Europe great again.”
According to Songs That Made History Around the World, “Bella Ciao” or “Goodbye, Beautiful” was originally written about a woman working in the rice fields of northern Italy, and was later adapted to fit the Italian resistance movement of the 1940s. It is said that it is something that ”
(The last time MEPs broke into song was in January 2020, when they sang “Auld Lang Syne” after backing the terms of the Brexit deal.)
