Von der Leyen attacks Orbán’s support for Russia in fiery speech to European Parliament

STRASBOURG — Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after he spoke to the European Parliament for cozying up to Vladimir Putin, allowing foreign interference by Russia and China, and letting down the Hungarian people. 

“I want to ask them,” she said while looking directly at Orbán: “Would they ever blame the Hungarians for the Soviet invasion of 1956? Or the Czechs and Slovaks for the Soviet repression of 1968? Or the Lithuanians for the Soviet crackdown of 1991?” The rhetorical questions were met with applause from pro-European political groups. 

In the past, the Parliament has criticized von der Leyen for being too soft when addressing rule of law and human rights issues in Hungary.

Her rebuttal of Orbán’s policies comes weeks before the team of 26 European commissioners will go before Parliament for their sign-off — and she needs MEPs’ support for her second term. In her most recent address, in unusually strong words, von der Leyen called out the Hungarian prime minister for cozying up to Putin.

At the start of Hungary’s six months at the helm of the presidency of the Council of the EU, Orbán went on self-declared “peace missions” to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Washington, and claimed, without authorization, to be representing the EU.

“There are still some who blame this war not on the invader but on the invaded. Not on Putin’s lust for power but on Ukraine’s thirst for freedom,” added von der Leyen on Wednesday.

After comments from the leaders of the Parliament’s political groups, a shocked Orbán was given a chance to respond, and said he “was surprised by what the president said.”

“I deliberately did not raise our differences, because as the Council presidency we are working on Europe’s behalf. It’s not right to talk about these differences of opinion when here we are talking about the presidency,” he said.

Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who is now Orbán’s main opponent, also faced off with the prime minister during the debate. Magyar’s party, Tisza, is doing well in the polls.

Orbán added that the Commission has become “a political weapon” instead of being neutral and focusing on protecting the EU treaties.

Von der Leyen also addressed other issues she had with the Hungarian prime minister.

On competitiveness, the topic where von der Leyen and Orbán agree that the EU needs heavy investment, the Commission president argued that, despite EU efforts to boost the single market, there is “one government heading in the exact opposite direction, drifting away from the single market.” No prizes for guessing who she was referring to.

“How can a government attract more European investments if at the same time it discriminates against European companies, by taxing them more than others?” she added.

Von der Leyen rounded off her attack on Orbán by addressing migration, a political hot topic and long-standing talking point of the Hungarian prime minister, who argued a day earlier in a press conference that his country was one of the only ones fighting to keep undocumented migrants out of the European Union.

“I heard your words,” von der Leyen continued, “You said that Hungary is protecting borders and that criminals are being locked up in Hungary. How does that fit with the fact that authorities last year released from prison convicted traffickers and smugglers before they ended their time?”

She used the opportunity to further criticize Hungary’s recent decision to allow Chinese police to patrol within the country, as well as this summer’s easing of visa requirements for Russian nationals, which she called a “security risk” for all EU countries. 

“This is not defending Europe’s sovereignty, this is a backdoor for foreign interference,” von der Leyen said. 

But von der Leyen softened her blows by ending her speech with an appeal to the Hungarian people. ​​”We are one family. Your story is our story. Your future is our future. Ten million Hungarians are 10 million good reasons to keep shaping our future together.”