Hungary, represented by its Prime Minister Viktor Orban, took over the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union in July 1, and promptly decided to do something unconventional: actual work. So out came the knives.
Back in 2022, the most memorable thing that France’s Emmanuel Macron did while in the role was make a logo for his EU presidency that incorporated his own initials. The benefit to the French and European people was fantastic – as in, it exists in fantasy.
For his EU presidency meeting in France, Macron stood alongside unelected European Commission bureaucracy president “Queen” Ursula von der Leyen, as they championed issues like climate change, digital transition, and the EU military industrial complex (er, the “EU Defence Union”). They were only too happy to serve up typical globalist fare for their fellow elites to gobble down. But these same folks are now gagging on Orban’s chosen agenda: peace.
Orban announced that Hungary’s EU presidency meeting would take place at the end of August in Budapest, addressing thorny global conflicts that present a challenge to the EU. Bloc elites object because peace is supposed to come from taking short showers and sweltering without air conditioning to stick it to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Until now, the establishment figured that it could control Orban, if not through threats of withholding EU funds, then through outright manipulation. Like when, according to Politico, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz managed to get him to dip out of a vote last December on starting EU accession talks for Ukraine by convincing the Hungarian leader that it would result in a win-win. So, while Orban was in the hallway, the other EU leaders rammed through the vote, avoiding his veto, and subsequently celebrating their own manipulated unanimity.
But when Orban took over this new EU role, he really dipped out this time, promptly chewing through the leash that the European establishment may have figured they had on him, and proceeded to use it to slingshot himself around the world on a “peace tour” to gather information from all sides of various East-West global conflicts.
He started in Ukraine with a visit to Vladimir Zelensky. Totally cool, totally normal, totally in line with EU establishment groupthink. Also, totally useless in terms of trying to actually resolve the conflict involving Russia and Ukraine’s NATO backers that’s devastating European taxpayers and industry.
Even Zelensky has recently conceded that any real peace talks need to involve Russia. Orban’s shuttle diplomacy in the EU’s name is the closest thing there is right now to that. So then why did all hell break loose in Brussels when Orban, in his new temporary EU leadership role, decided to also go to Moscow to get the lowdown on Russia’s position?
Orban also hit up China, Azerbaijan, the NATO summit in the US, and former (and potential future) US President Donald Trump. He seems to be the only one taking stock of both sides of various global conflicts.
The German press got hold of the letter that Orban sent to Charles Michel – the president of the European Council, to whom Orban is apparently sending notes from his trips. Orban has warned of an intensification of conflict in Ukraine, the need for diplomacy with both Russia and China, and a new approach to the Global South, whose faith the EU has lost amid the fallout from the Ukraine conflict.
He took a bulldozer to their collective safe space, apparently. Because the EU‘s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, is now eyeing a formal foreign affairs summit at the exact same time as Orban’s own summit, according to Politico. That way, they can completely sidestep the risk of being presented with some actual diplomatic heavy lifting and retreat instead to Borrell’s “trigger-free” EU garden where they can kick back and chill without the risk of being mugged by contradictory views.
One EU diplomat told Politico that they want to “send a clear signal that Hungary does not speak for the EU.” What even is the EU anymore if not unelected bureaucrats who routinely purport to speak for it and direct its policy? At least Orban is offering a new twist: elected democratic accountability.
But what does the job description say? “The role of the member state holding the presidency is to drive the legislative agenda by chairing Council meetings, ensure good cooperation with the other EU institutions, and ensure continuation of the EU policy agenda,” according to the Chatham House think tank.
Oh, please. Just Google “What is the agenda of the Spanish presidency of the EU” in 2023? Answer: “Boosting the EU’s reindustrialization and strategic autonomy. Advancing the green transition. Achieving greater social and economic justice. Strengthening Europe’s unity.” How about Belgium’s presidency earlier this year? Again, we find the usual talking points, from climate change to unity and promotion of a “global Europe” come up there, too.
By the time this clunky Eurocracy actually figures out what to do about Orban, his six-month tenure may be up. Officials are already suggesting that they don’t have any way of cutting his tenure short. In the meantime, a bunch of top desk-jockey commanders have also joined the pile-on.
“In light of recent developments marking the start of the Hungarian presidency, the president has decided that the European Commission will be represented at senior civil servant level only during informal meetings of the Council,” said Eric Mamer, the spokesman for Queen Ursula’s brave battalion of papercut Purple Heart bureaucrats who run Brussels.
“The College visit to the Presidency will not take place.” Oh no, not a boycott by the “College”! What’s the “College” anyway? It’s really just another group of unelected bureaucrats – the College of the 27 EU commissioners, one handpicked for each EU member state. European Commission… College of EU Commissioners… European Council president… president of the Council of the European Union… It’s almost like all these things are made to sound the same so that the general public gets confused about what’s going on.
“The EU Commission cannot cherry pick institutions and member states it wants to cooperate with,” Hungarian European Affairs Minister Boka Janos said in response to the top bureaucrat boycott of Orban’s meeting. “Are all Commission decisions now based on political considerations?” Well, yeah, that’s how they roll. Their virtue is highly discriminatory in its application. Democracy and diversity – particularly of thought – is defensible only within acceptable limits defined by them.
A group of 63 elected establishment bootlickers also wrote a letter to EU top brass, accusing Orban of speaking for the whole EU on his trips – kind of like Queen Ursula herself, to which even her own staff objected during the Israel-Gaza conflict kickoff.
These elected proponents of tolerance and inclusion are now calling for the suspension of Hungary’s voting rights. It wouldn’t even be the first time. A group of 120 EU lawmakers demanded the same earlier this year because Orban dared to exercise his constitutional right to veto more EU cash for Ukraine, in total accordance with EU rules.
If only these control freaks were as keen to hit the brakes on war as they are on a single man’s efforts to achieve peace, then Europeans would be much better off for it.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.