The rotating presidency “is symbolic”, and the Hungarian government “doesn’t attach too much significance to it, but it will do a decent job,” the head of the PM’s Office added.

Concerning the government’s negotiations with the European Commission on frozen community funding, Gulyás said he was “fundamentally optimistic” but “there can be no compromise over migration and child protection.”

“We are negotiating on the other areas and we trust that we can strike an agreement,” he said. “Several billion euros” could be obtained even without agreement on the two contested issues, he said, adding that a “raw power struggle was taking place”.

“They don’t like the Hungarian government because of those two headings and they will only give us money when they think they have to.”

Concerning the upcoming European parliamentary elections, Gulyás said that “despite differences in political views, Hungary would likely end up with 21 MEPs able to promote Hungary’s interests”.

He added that today, however, opposition MEPs were working “to put the commission in a position” in which it could refuse to forward funds to Hungary. “MEPs of Hungary’s leftist parties are in a clear and sharp opposition to Hungary’s interest,” he insisted.

Funds Linked To LGBTQ, Migration Issues

The president of the European Commission has linked Hungary's future EU funding to LGBTQ and migration issues, the head of the Prime Minister's Office has said.

Gergely Gulyás told a government press briefing that the EC and EP were exerting pressure on Hungary’s government in respect of two issues “on which Hungarian voters have clearly expressed their opinion”. Wednesday’s European parliamentary debate “made this clear to everyone”, Gulyás said.

While the EC acknowledged the measures taken by the Hungarian government to ensure judicial independence, the commission’s president made the release of further EU funds contingent on Hungary changing its stance on LGBTQ and migration issues, he said.

Hungarian law guarantees the independence of the judiciary, he said, yet it took another six months for the EC to acknowledge this and to release some of the funds due to Hungary.

The commission and the EP were nevertheless putting pressure on the Hungarian government in two cases regarding which Hungarian voters had clearly expressed their opinion, he said. The anti-migration position received more support than in any previous survey, and even this was surpassed by the outcome of the survey on protecting children from LGBTQ propaganda, he added.

Gulyás: Poland Developments Mirror ‘Brussels Double Standards’

On the subject of measures by the new Polish government, Gergely Gulyás advised voters “to consider carefully how they vote”. “If anyone has had doubts about the unfair and hypocritical double standards which rule Brussels, it is enough to have a look at developments in Poland…”

“The Hungarian government considers that one of the great weakness of the current EU is that it interferes in domestic affairs,” the head of the PM’s Office told a government press briefing.

Gulyás noted that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his newly appointed Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, had not held a bilateral meeting in recent times but they had met at the recent EU summit. He also said that Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico had said on a recent visit to that Slovakia stood by Hungary in Brussels, but “they also need Hungary to stand up for Slovakia”.

Commenting on Visegrad Group cooperation, he said its four member states had several joint interests despite differences in political opinion, so “there is scope for pragmatic cooperation”. He expressed hope that the next V4 meeting could take place in the first half of 2024.

Asked about Ursula von der Leyen’s prospects, Gulyás said the current European Commission president had a high chance of remaining in her position.

Commenting on Sweden’s NATO accession, he said “it appears that this is not as important to the Swedes as it is to the NATO secretary general”, who projected its accession date to be in the first half of the year. “Nobody has contacted us about it from Sweden,” he added.

The government, he said, wanted to avoid Hungary being the last country to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession. Some commonly understood concerns must be resolved first, he said, and communication was needed to rebuild trust. He also said that the Turkish parliament had repeatedly announced and then postponed a vote in this matter.

“Let’s wait and see when the Turks decide,” he added. “The more countries, the stronger the force,” he said in response to a question on whether Sweden’s accession would strengthen NATO.

At the same time, he said Sweden’s contribution would be “modest”, adding there wasn’t a single conflict in the world where an individual country’s contribution would be decisive, though within the bloc, the power of the US was decisive, he added, and only a few other countries played a significant role.

Commenting on a recent Hungarian visit to the Sahel, he said the African region was currently one of the deepest sources of migration, and Hungary’s position was that help must be taken to where it is needed.

The Hungary Helps programme aims at this purpose, he added. In response to another question, he said a military mission in Chad was making good progress.

Commenting on the visit of the Latin patriarch to Hungary, he said the most important subject was how Hungary could effectively help Christians in the Holy Land and the victims of the Israeli-Hamas conflict under the arrangements of the Hungary Helps programme.

Commenting on German farmers’ protests, he said his personal view was that green policies launched in the past were currently being forced on people beyond the bounds of common sense.

“Imposing a twentieth extra tax on famers using diesel is obviously difficult to accept,” he added. He said Germany was characterised by domestic political instability that the country had never witnessed before, and public opinion of the German chancellor had never been as poor as it was today.

“The three-party coalition is marred by disagreements on many issues, and its public support is only around 30%, which would have been inconceivable in the past,” he added.

Commenting on the EU digital directive entering force in the next month, he said it would be useful and necessary to formulate common European action concerning big-tech companies like Facebook and YouTube.

“At the same time, it should be noted that currently the EU also accepts restrictions on the freedom of speech and some constitutional restrictions that the Hungarian government — which represents a classic liberal position — does not find acceptable,” he said.

The Hungarian government will be represented in the body reviewing regulations ranging from tax obligations to the “extremely questionable” rules of comment restriction, he said. Asked about this year’s mayoral elections, Gulyás said the elections were on the schedule of next week’s Fidesz board meeting, and Fidesz would have its own candidate.

In response to a question on the issue of adoption by same-sex couples, Gulyás said a child who did not have a mother and a father was “obviously at a disadvantage”.

“This is why we try to guarantee this,” he added. It can also happen, he noted, that somebody starts a homosexual relationship after the dissolution of a marriage, in which case he or she naturally keeps the right of custody over the child, as does the other parent, in the case of joint custody.

Regarding same-sex civil partnerships, he said there are 403 in Hungary at present, adding that the government had no plans to ease adoption rules.

Fidesz MEP: EP Resolution Against Hungary 'Political Blackmail'

The “pro-Soros” majority of the European Parliament “has adopted another shameful resolution” condemning Hungary, according to a ruling Fidesz MEP.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s speech on Wednesday was a “clear confession”, Balázs Hidvéghi said in a video message.

Von der Leyen “openly said” that a large part of Hungary’s EU funds was being withheld due to the country’s migration policy and its child protection law, he said.

“That is unacceptable,” he added. Hungary’s government, he said, would continue to stand up against blackmail. “We won’t allow Hungary to be turned into an immigration country,” he said, adding that the government would continue to protect children from “LGBTQ propaganda”.

Photo:  European Parliament

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