Republished here from EIR's Strategic Alert is last week’s article, “Eurocrats vs. Orbán: Those Who Go To Collect Wool Get Shorn”
In his opening speech to the European Parliament on Oct. 9, Viktor Orbán highlighted competitiveness as a key issue for Hungary’s Presidency, pointing to energy prices as a key obstacle. “As a result of moving away from Russian energy sources, the EU has lost significant GDP growth,” he said. “We should not fall into the illusion that the green transition in itself offers a solution to the problem,” he argued, adding that decarbonization has led to slowing down of productivity and the loss of jobs.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen then rose to attack Hungary’s stance on Russia, comparing the Ukrainians to the Hungarians who fought against the Soviet occupation in 1956. She deplored that “one member state in particular” is still trying to buy fossil fuels from Russia despite the EU’s commitment to energy independence. And as usual, she criticized Hungary’s policy on migration and asylum.
After the von der Leyen, Manfred Weber from the European People’s Party went into a long tirade against the Hungarian Prime Minister, charging him with not mentioning Ukraine because he “collaborate[s] with the aggressor.” After Weber, Iratzke Garcia Perez spoke for the second largest group, the Socialists, to accuse Orbán, among other things, of “benefiting from billions of euros of European funds that you divert to a court of corrupt oligarchs.” Similar allegations were made by other faction leaders, except those of the Conservatives and Orbán’s own faction, the Patriots for Europe.
