Hungary’s Eurosceptic government takes over bloc presidency

Viktor Orbán has called for a “course correction” in EU competitiveness as Hungary took the helm of the bloc’s rotating presidency despite concerns in Brussels about the hard-right prime minister pushing his Eurosceptic agenda over the next six months.

The government of the EU’s most pro-Russian leader, who has sought to block military aid to Ukraine, called for closer relations with China and railed against policies to combat climate change and manage immigration, on Monday took on the steering of day-to-day EU political deliberations amid a surge in hard-right support across the continent.

Yet in an opinion piece published by the Financial Times, Orbán called for collaborative action to address the EU’s lagging economic competitiveness, tapping into a widely shared concern across the bloc, while talking up relations with France, Germany and Italy.

“Europe has become a far less attractive investment destination,” he wrote. “Over time we will only fall further behind. An immediate course correction is necessary.”

Despite talking up his country’s own competitiveness and openness to foreign investment in the FT article, the Orbán government has taken several measures aimed at driving out western companies — including taxing mostly western-owned major retailers and telecommunications companies. In some instances, local companies have been awarded stakes, such as in the case of Vodafone, while the state stepped in directly to purchase assets, like the recent buyback of Budapest airport from a foreign investor.

Orbán, who vowed to “occupy Brussels” in his campaign for last month’s European parliament elections, has crowed about building an “illiberal democracy” in Hungary. His government has rewritten election laws to favour the ruling Fidesz party and reframed the constitution to reflect an arch-conservative worldview.

His moves to restrict LGBT+ freedoms and crack down on organisations receiving foreign funding have sparked criticism in Brussels and led to the freezing of billions of euros earmarked for Budapest.

At the same time, Orbán’s obstructionist stance towards Ukraine-related EU decisions has spurred efforts by the bloc’s other 26 capitals to find legal ways to circumvent Budapest’s veto on foreign affairs.

The Hungarian presidency — which means Hungary will chair, prepare and set the agendas for the meetings of EU ministers, ambassadors and other officials for the next six months — is being promoted under a Donald Trump-inspired slogan, “Make Europe Great Again”. Orbán has been publicly rooting for the former US president to return to the White House after elections in November.

His stated willingness to work with EU partners clashes with his government’s recent actions. Budapest has refused to comply with a 2020 decision by the EU’s top court to bring its asylum practices in line with the bloc’s rules, leading the European Court of Justice to issue Budapest with a €200mn fine, plus a further €1mn per day until the ruling is honoured.

Hungarian officials have stressed that they will act as an “honest broker” but many are sceptical. The Orbán government paid for disparaging campaign posters featuring European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and recently called Manfred Weber, president of the leading centre-right European People’s party, “Beelzebub”.

The European parliament last year warned against Hungary assuming the presidency given what it called “backsliding” on core EU values.

Tineke Strik, a Dutch Green MEP, said Hungary presiding over the bloc’s workings “makes a mockery of the EU’s commitment to democracy”.

“The Fidesz government has spent years blaming Brussels for all its ills while cementing autocracy in Hungary,” she said, noting that instead of insulating itself against Orbán, the EU is handing him over the “keys to the Council”.

But officials say that Hungary overseeing a six-month period where the first four months will be dominated by the selection of a new European Commission means the potential for legislative blockages is limited.

“A presidency is powerful in terms of steering the tanker in one direction or the other but it is not all-powerful. There are constraints and expectations that have to be met,” an EU diplomat said.

“The presidency does not mean that you are the boss of Europe. The presidency means that you are the one who has to make the compromise,” said Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s prime minister, whose government held the rotating presidency for the first half of the year. “It is an interesting position to be in, at least once in your life. I can definitely recommend it to Mr Orbán.”

Additional reporting by Paola Tamma and Andy Bounds in Brussels