“Make Europe Great Again”

‘Make Europe great again’. This is the motto that the ultranationalist Viktor Orbán has chosen as the motto for the rotating presidency of the EU Council that will correspond to Hungary in the next semester. There is none Slogan New. This is the same one that Donald Trump used in the race that took him to the White House in 2016. The Orbán government will therefore take over the leadership of the European Union on July 1 and its mandate will coincide with the elections in the United States that the magnate reappears in.

That Hungary assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union, something that is up to member states on a rotating basis every six months, creates some uncertainty among other member states, with Orbán seen as the figurehead. how terrible In recent years, in addition to violating the rule of law in his own country, he has thwarted every decision required by the 27, especially what has to do with the war in Ukraine, and has taken the opportunity to blackmail his allies.

This has led to some hasty decisions being taken this semester so that the decision does not fall on the Hungarian presidency, which has already announced that it will not speed up files it does not agree on during the period in which it has to organize the internal functioning of the Council of the European Union, where governments are represented. The Belgian presidency insisted on closing the negotiating mandate for the accession of Ukraine and Moldova precisely so that it does not fall on Hungary.

Orban energized the rest of the leaders by meeting with Vladimir Putin a few months ago and he does not hide his sympathy for Trump, whose return to the White House is one of the EU’s main concerns. During his tenure, relations suffered considerably and, despite a trade war breaking out with Joe Biden, work has been done to restore harmony between the two continents. There is a clear nod from Orban on the choice of the motto. The slogans of previous presidents have been “Protect, strengthen and prepare” in the case of the Belgians; and “Europe, closer” in the case of the Spanish.

Orban lifts veto from Rutte

Orbán’s tensions with other EU leaders have been evident in recent years, but it was certainly most evident with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. In 2021, the liberals were very critical of Orbán and invited Hungary to leave the EU due to his approval of homophobic laws. Rutte was the harshest against the Hungarian government at the time and even went so far as to say that he would have to force it to “take a knee”. The Hungarian Prime Minister has taken revenge for some time by not supporting him in the race for NATO Secretary General.

“There is no Western politician with a worse reputation in Hungary than Mr Rutte. He said two sentences that the Hungarian people will not forgive him for,” Orban said in an interview with Mandiner this month, reports agency EFE.

But the situation changed this Monday during an informal dinner of EU leaders in Brussels. Rutte contacted Orban and they had a conversation in which, according to the Dutchman, he gave a number of explanations to his Hungarian colleague, although he made it clear that this was not an apology. He promised to send him in writing what they had talked about and the letter arrived in record time.

This Tuesday morning Orban had in his possession the letter in which Rutte confirmed that he would maintain the exceptions for Hungary’s participation in the defense of Ukraine, which he had agreed with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg a week earlier. “I have noted that statements made by me as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 2021 have caused discontent in Hungary,” Orban himself posted on social networks along with a message in which he supports Rutte for the position.

Hungary’s ‘yes’, along with Slovakia, which also announced it this Tuesday, clears the way for Rutte, who already had the support of the great masses when he contested the election of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Now all that remains is for him to retire so that Rutte, who will soon leave the government, can get the necessary consent from the allies to appoint him as the new head of NATO.