Ursula von der Leyen, the current president of the European Commission, has not yet announced that she will run for office again, but on the eve of the European Parliament elections, some countries have already indicated that they would support her re-election - but Hungary is not necessarily one of them.
In an interview with the Brussels news portal Politico, Balázs Orbán, political director of the Hungarian Prime Minister, said that our country would not necessarily support Ursula von der Leyen's new presidency.
We have been very supportive of him so far. But now he is imposing his own political agenda on the member states without consulting them about geopolitics, relations with the USA and China, war issues and sanctions, Balázs Orbán said.
There is less than a year left until the next European Parliament elections and, at the same time, the formation of the new European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen has not yet announced that she will run for the position again, but German and Spanish leaders have already expressed their support for her possible new presidential mandate.
According to Viktor Orbán's political director, Von der Leyen's activities as committee president are divisive and do not promote EU unity. Balázs Orbán also complained that under the leadership of the German politician, the commission exerts pressure on the member states to accept its proposals.
In response to the question that the EU had blocked part of Hungary's subsidies due to corruption and rule of law concerns, Balázs Orbán said: "Brussels' room for maneuver is getting narrower. They have to give us some kind of positive signal.”
"The representative group of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) would be a logical choice for Fidesz," he then answered the question of whether the ruling party would join the European Parliament faction.
The question is how the right and center right will cooperate and gain a majority after the elections. We want to support the right and we want to cooperate with the centre-right, he added.
According to Politico, it is doubtful that a right-wing coalition could win a majority, but the political director is optimistic:
"I think we have a chance, I think it will be a very tight field. In France, the right will win. The right wing will win in Italy, the right wing will win in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and these are the biggest countries. It will be close in Spain, but in every major country some right wing will win."
Regarding Ukraine's possible accession to the European Union, Balázs Orbán drew attention to the situation of the Hungarian minority: "The Ukrainian position regarding the Hungarian minority is completely unacceptable. Until this problem is resolved, we cannot support the EU's enlargement process towards Ukraine. This is a rock-solid position”.
