EU is on ‘witch hunt’ against Hungary for its stance on migration and Ukraine, says leading Austrian MEP

EU is on ‘witch hunt’ against Hungary for its stance on migration and Ukraine, says leading Austrian MEP

 DENES ALBERT AND JOHN CODY

With the debate on a possible threat to the rule of law in Hungary, the European Parliament is forcing the Hungarian government and Viktor Orbán to run yet another political gauntlet with the help of left-wing political groups and the European People’s Party, said Austrian MEP Georg Mayer on Tuesday.

Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) MEP Georg Mayer described today’s debate on the “threat to the rule of law in Hungary” as a “political gauntlet.”

“Of course, certain political groups want to put this issue back on the agenda, as the Hungarian government and Orbán are not on the left and centralist political line they should be on,” Mayer said. 

The Austrian MEP criticized the fact that the left-wing political groups, but also the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), are using flimsy accusations to start a debate by threatening Hungary once again with the withdrawal of EU funding. 

Orbán’s Fidesz party once belonged to the EPP but left the group after years of internal conflict, including threats to expel Fidesz. Orbán accused the EU parliamentary group of losing its way and betraying conservative values. 

“We gave up the family model based on matrimony of one woman and one man, and fell into the arms of gender ideology. Instead of supporting the birth of children, we see mass migration as the solution to our demographic problem,” Orbán wrote in a letter to the EPP in 2020.

The MEP also addressed the ongoing scandal surrounding vaccine procurement in the European Union. 

“In my opinion, this is blatant blackmail and an attempt to undermine Orbán and his policies,” said Mayer, adding that the EU in particular is a very bad example when it comes to adhering to its own rules. 

“We have a Commission president who is still in office because of her rotten vaccination deals, which have cost taxpayers around 35 billion euros. We see in the European Parliament how the two big political groups of the European People’s Party and the Socialists are affected by serious allegations of corruption in their ranks. The ladies and gentlemen who accuse Hungary of lacking the rule of law should rather put their own house in order,” said the liberal MEP.

Mayer emphasized the importance of Hungarian policy at the European level, such as a strict asylum and migration policy, as well as Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán’s call for a quick peace in Ukraine. 

“I can only welcome the efforts of the Hungarian prime minister and would also like to see these ambitions on the part of the EU. Instead, their ambitions lie in supplying even more weapons to Ukraine and pouring billions more into a bottomless pit,” emphasized the Styrian MEP. 

Mayer called for an end to the “political witch hunt” against Hungary. Instead, the Hungarian government and its plans for a “secure and peaceful Europe” should be supported at the European level.

Mayer’s party, the FPÖ, is well known for its anti-war stance, and has called for Austria to stop funding Ukraine, reject Ukraine’s EU membership, and for the Austrian government to hold a national referendum on continued weapons shipments to the country. The FPÖ is currently the most popular party in Austria and analysts believe it is highly likely the country will be led by an FPÖ prime minister in next year’s elections.