Hungary’s European semester has begun with the Trump-inspired motto Make Europe Great Again. The Hungarian Prime Minister inaugurated it with the announcement of the creation of a new group called “Patriots for Europe”aims to make large acquisitions to build a new family within the European Parliament, perhaps to be expanded with members of Identity and Democracy, where Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National and Matteo Salvini’s League sit.
Orbán wanted to demonstrate that he could inaugurate his six months of presidency with a nice political move and has created a political tangle that threatens to multiply by making the presence of the sovereignists in Brussels more compact and also sending a warning to the far-right group of Conservatives, Ecr, in which relations between Giorgia Meloni and the Poles of PiS are becoming problematic. Last week the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártóhad called his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to tell him that during the Hungarian presidency, the EU will try to strengthen its relations with Beijing and had explained to his colleague what his intentions were: it seemed more like the call of a subordinate than that of an ally, but above all it came from the desire to demonstrate to his European colleagues that during his semester Hungary would do as it pleased, with whatever friends it pleased. The political program of the Patriots for Europe puts “peace” among the first points, a beautiful word, but frightening when combined with “surrender”. In these six months, negotiations between Brussels and Kyiv should continue on Ukraine’s future entry into the EU.but these talks are not among the priorities of the Hungarian pacifists, they will set the agenda and could delay everything, gifting Russia the delay as if it were a pledge of friendship.
Orbán’s semester promises to be tiring and risky, it is true that it will end at the end of December and then it will be the Poles’ turn, but the EU is not equipped for half a year of sovereignisms in the director’s seat.
