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Hungary: ‘EU Pushed To Bankruptcy’

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that his government wants to know “who is responsible” for the European Union having been “pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.”

Speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, Orbán posted video footage on his Facebook website page in which he complained about the multibillion-euro EU budget.

“Everyone has a single question in Brussels right now: where has the money gone?” he wondered.

Orbán said the EU’s executive European Commission proposed an amendment to the current budget of the 27-nations bloc. The Commission is “requesting hundreds of billions more in contributions from member states,” the Hungarian leader claimed.

He said this raised the question of “how is it that the European Union could be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.”

Orbán noted that under the current Commission proposal, EU member states were being asked to contribute initially another 50 billion euros ($54.6 billion) to the budget “so that they can give it to Ukraine.”

He stressed that this money was asked “even though they can’t account for the money we’ve already contributed” to the wartorn nation.

DIGITAL EURO

Orbán addressed the budgetary dilemmas while ahead of the EU summit, the Commission proposed a digital euro “as a complement to cash.”

The standoff over money came after Hungary, which has veto power over the issue, refused to allow more EU funding for weapons for Ukraine.

EU leaders have condemned Hungary’s alleged pro-Russian policies, but Orbán maintains he seeks a ceasefire and peace talks as this war “can’t be won on the battlefield.”

And with up to 200,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine, including hundreds fighting against invading Russian troops, Hungary is in a different position than other EU countries, he explained earlier.

In addition, Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas and oil supplies and its expertise in expanding the country’s nuclear power plant, Orbán’s government says.

Additionally, the longtime prime minister is at loggerheads with Brussels which withheld funding over his perceived authoritarian style, reported corruption, and government takeover of critical media and other institutions.

He said Friday that EU member Hungary demanded to know whether Brussels demands more money to cover interests on earlier EU loans. “These are the loans from which Poland and Hungary have yet to receive a single penny,” Orbán said, referring to the billions of EU aid being suspended to the two countries over rule-of-law concerns.

CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE

Orbán, who views himself as a Christian conservative, maintains his government is punished by Europe’s ruling “leftist liberal elite” over its Christian pro-family, anti-war and anti-migration policies.

He also stressed it was “not serious of the EU to want more money for migration, though not for border protection, but to bring migrants in.”

Orbán added: “First and foremost, we want to know what all that money we have contributed so far has been spent on.”

His comments came as the EU’s leadership faced pressure from the European Parliament to prevent the six-month rotating EU presidency of Hungary next year.

However, it was unlikely that the European Council of the 27 EU member states prime ministers would agree on such a measure.

Budapest has also angered NATO members for refusing to ratify Sweden’s membership of the alliance before the summer recess.

Sweden had set its sights on joining NATO at the alliance’s July 11-12 summit, and while it has strong support from other members, including the United States, Turkey, and Hungary, have so far held back from ratification.

Orbán’s government and its legislators had been furious after Sweden expressed concerns about the status of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary.