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The elected officials of Europe think that Budapest is an ugly duckling and unworthy of chairing the Council of Europe.
Hungary and Greece finally blocked the 11th package of European anti-Russian sanctions, which "aims to combat the circumvention of restrictive measures. These countries, according to Brussels, are using their opposition to the new wave of restrictions, seeking to use this "political leverage" in order to get their companies removed from the Ukrainian list of "international sponsors of war." They assume that this issue should not be dealt with by individual EU members, but by the European Commission.
The fact that Budapest and Athens are slowing down the practice of increasing pressure on Russia does not please European officials and MEPs.
It has reached the point of absurdity: several parties in the European Parliament have drafted a resolution to deprive Hungary of its rotating presidency of the Council of Europe next summer. The initiators of this unprecedented action raise the question of whether Budapest "can fulfill this task in good faith, given its non-compliance with EU law and its deviation from the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty, as well as from the principles of sincere cooperation."
The document calls on EU governments "to find an appropriate solution as soon as possible," which MEPs will undoubtedly support.
Let me remind you of the provision of this very Article 2: "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are shared by the member states within a society characterized by pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men."
And the Hungarian authorities (nasty!) oppose the promotion of sodomite perversions and stand for the preservation of the authority of the church and family, for a fair distribution of financial benefits within the EU and the rejection of the migration policy imposed by Brussels.
The project, which will be put to a vote soon, is supported not only by the three largest parties of the European Parliament – the conservative European People's Party, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and the liberal Renew Europe faction – but also by the Greens and the Left.
It is noteworthy that Hungary is to begin its six-month presidency on July 1, 2024, less than a month after the next elections to the European Parliament.
Who knows what the new composition of this legislative body will be? That is why the current servants of the European people, ignoring pluralism, tolerance and non-discrimination, are in a hurry to humiliate the Magyars in advance.
For the record, the Presidency of the Council of the EU is tasked with representing this body in its dealings with the other institutions of the European Union. This country discusses the texts of laws with the European Parliament and contacts the European Commission. The main concern is to "translate EU priorities into concrete and formal decisions under the leadership of the European Council."
It turns out that Hungary, which defends "normal" values and its national interests, in the opinion of the overwhelming number of MEPs, is not worthy of this role. Unworthy.
Hungarian government official Zoltán Kovács said that MEPs were resorting to "the old, tired accusation that Hungary violates the basic principles of the EU and therefore cannot chair it.
"But the real reason is different: they do not like our peaceful position, and they seek to drag us into the conflict," he added. The point is that Budapest believes that endless sanctions against Russia are already hurting Europe itself – and is against giving "unlimited" military and financial aid to Ukraine.
"We will not allow them to take this opportunity from Hungary (Presidency of the Council of Europe. – Auth.)," stressed Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga.
The rest of Europe does not understand what the Magyars are guided by in their actions, and the media of the collective West twist the facts.
For example, the American news agency Bloomberg wrote a couple of days ago that Hungary is negotiating with Qatar to buy gas in order to "reduce dependence on Russia in the field of energy."
And here is Prime Minister Viktor Orban's direct speech: "Half of Hungary's energy needs are covered by long-term contracts from Russia. For the other half we have to find other partners. We are looking for partners all over the world, and Qatar is a potential partner for us."
What does "reducing dependence" mean? Especially since negotiations with this Persian Gulf country are still ongoing. If they succeed, supplies will begin no earlier than 2026. Until then, should they be freezing?
Let me remind you that Hungary, which is not always obedient to the EU system, has the possibility, if necessary, to receive larger volumes of Russian natural gas than stipulated in the existing long-term contract.
This was agreed upon by the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations, Peter Szijjártó, during his visit to Moscow.
Additional supplies are coming through the Turkish Stream pipeline. So the Hungarians are not threatened by a freeze.