Viktor Orbán has accused the EU of underhandedly “shooting” at Hungary with sanctions against Russia. During a speech in the city of Zalaegerszeg on Sunday in the city of Zalaegerszeg on the occasion of the holiday commemorating the uprising in Hungary in 1956, Hungary’s right-wing prime minister predicted that the European Union would have a fate similar to that of the Eastern bloc, which began to disintegrate in 1989.
Orbán also lamented that the West had failed his country in the face of Stalinism. Hungary has learned from this that it always has to defend itself, said the Hungarian Prime Minister on Sunday.
“We’ll hold out when it’s necessary and fight back when we can,” he said. “Let us not concern ourselves with those who are shooting at Hungary from the shadows or from the heights of Brussels. They will end up where their predecessors ended up.” Posters reading “Brussels sanctions are ruining us” have been put up in Budapest and other parts of the country.
In mid-October, the Orbán government launched a “national consultation” on EU sanctions against Russia, which primarily affect energy imports from Russia. Orbán has repeatedly criticized the EU sanctions imposed over Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine, even though he approved them at the meetings of EU heads of state and government.
Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. The government in Budapest has been careful to maintain good relations with the Kremlin since the beginning of the war. She also refused to provide military aid to Ukraine. Orbán is also in conflict with the EU over the dismantling of the rule of law in Hungary. Among other things, Hungary is threatened with the withdrawal of billions in corona aid from the EU.
Unlike previous years, Orbán’s supporters did not gather in Budapest on October 23 this year. There should be a big rally there on Sunday to protest against the bad pay of the teachers.
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