Hungary’s Orbán Regrets President’s Resignation Over Child Abuse
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Saturday he regretted that the nation’s most powerful women resigned over a presidential pardon in a child sexual abuse case, but added: “It was the right decision.”
The rightwing leader also pledged that the country’s Parliament would like to vote on Sweden’s membership of the NATO military alliance at the end of this month.
Orbán, 60, spoke during his 25th annual State of the Nation speech after Katalin Novák, Hungary’s first female president, and politician Judit Varga, the former justice minister, stepped down as they signed the presidential pardon.
He said two women, who were among his closest allies, had “more dignity than all the leaders of the left. However, the prime minister acknowledged that 2024 “could not have begun any worse” and that Novák’s resignation was a “nightmare” for the nation.
Orbán spoke to supporters in the Várkert Bazár (Castle Garden Bazar), a world heritage site at Castle Hill overlooking Budapest, where late Friday, up to 50,000 Hungarians protested against his policies.
In a highly choreographed speech to supporters, Orbán made clear he won’t step down over arguably the biggest scandal in his 14-year uninterrupted reign as prime minister.
Besides the two women, a longtime confidant of Orban, Reformed Bishop Zoltan Balog, resigned as president of the Synode.
UNDER PRESSURE
Balog, who was previously a government minister and will remain bishop, had come under pressure as he advised the president to give the pardon to Endre K. despite his crimes.
Endre K. had been imprisoned for covering up a string of child sexual abuse by the director of a state-run orphanage in the town of Bicske near Budapest.
However, Orbán stressed that his government would tighten child protection laws and make constitutional changes banning presidential pardons for child abusers.
Orbán, who claims to be a Christian and pro-family, was confronted with activists sticking anti-government slogans on the nearby pavement amid broader concerns about health and childcare in Hungary.
And he also faced more pressure Sunday when a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers was to visit Budapest for a “mission focused on strategic issues confronting NATO and Hungary.”
Their arrival underscores the growing impatience among Hungary’s allies after 18 months of delays in ratifying Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
Hungary remains the only holdout among NATO’s 31 members that has still not approved Sweden’s entry into the military alliance.
DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT
Orbán‘s government had demanded that Sweden first take back criticism about Hungary’s rule of law and its perceived lack of democratic credentials.
However, on Saturday, Orbán said he was confident Parliament would vote for Sweden’s membership at the start of its spring session on February 26. Orbán’s delays have also impacted the European Union, where he complicated EU funding for cash-strapped Ukraine.
As elections for the European Parliament approach this summer, Orbán has sought to unite right-wing forces against what he views as growing LGBTQ+ activism in schools. He also wants to tackle immigration and has close ties with former U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
Speaking about Hungary’s rotating EU presidency set to begin in July, Orbán used one of Trump’s popular slogans to describe his plans for the role. “Make Europe great again!” he said. “MAGA there, MEGA here.”
Like Trump in America, Orbán said he wants to make Hungary energy independent in part by upgrading the nation’s only nuclear power plant, ironically with Russian expertise and a long-term Russian loan of 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion).
He said he hopes Trump will be re-elected president. “We can’t get involved in another country’s elections, but we would really like President Donald [J.] Trump to return to the presidency and make peace here in the eastern half of Europe,” Orbán stressed.
Orbán said he shares Trump’s view that the Russia-Ukraine war, in which hundreds of thousands are believed to have been killed or injured, won’t end on the battlefield.
He has also expressed concerns that several members of Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority have been killed or injured after being called up in the Ukrainian army to fight against the invading Russian military.
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