The European Union is also crucial for the government’s policy for Hungarians abroad: the transfer of sovereignty involved in EU membership can help prevent the assimilation of ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries, Németh said at a meeting of Hungarian literature teachers of the Carpathian Basin in Eger, in northern Hungary.

He said Europe’s current political situation can be interpreted as the “sum” of multiple simultaneous crises that include, among others, the rise of the threat of terrorism, ongoing wars in Europe’s southern neighbouring region and migration.

But he said Europe’s response to these crises was hampered by “disorder” within the bloc which had now been made even worse by Britain’s decision to quit the EU. Németh said the new situation had caused fear and uncertainty within the EU as a result of which the European Commission had often been “aggressive, intolerant and impatient” with its responses to the crises facing the bloc.

He said the push for a federalist political union in Europe after Brexit would only “add fuel to the fire”. By failing to give the right response to Brexit, the EC could risk tearing European integration apart, Németh warned.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Baranyi Ildikó