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During the Strasbourg Plenary on October 9, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán outlined Hungary's EU Council Presidency plans, but the event escalated into a confrontation with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as he insisted the Commission should uphold neutrality and act as the guardian of the treaties.
Viktor Orbán presented his priorities to the Parliament plenary on Wednesday morning (October 9), marking his return to Strasbourg after missing September’s session due to severe weather and flooding in Hungary.
Yet the situation escalated quickly. Parliament President Roberta Metsola was not wrong when predicting a "lively debate" similar to the one six years ago and anticipating “no less today.”
Much of Orbán's address was a remake of the priorities he had already presented on Tuesday during a press conference.
Yet, what started as a pitch for solutions on stricter migration controls and improving Europe's competitiveness soon took a backseat in the plenary.
Speaking after him, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen strongly emphasised the importance of Europe's financial and military support for Ukraine.
This directly countered Orbán’s earlier call for a ceasefire and his controversial statement that “Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield.”
“There are still some who blame this war not on the invader but on the invaded,” von der Leyen said.
“Would they ever blame the Hungarians for the Soviet invasion of 1956? Or the Czechs and Slovaks for the Soviet repression of 1968? Or the Lithuanians for the Soviet crackdown of 1991?” the president added.
Orbán swiftly dismissed the historical comparison as "a complete mistake."
Turning to Orbán’s claims of protecting Europe from illegal migration, she directly questioned Hungary's approach to "protecting its borders."
“You said that ‘criminals are being locked up’ in Hungary. However, last year, your authorities released convicted smugglers and traffickers from prison before they served their time,” von der Leyen said.
“This is not protecting our Union," she added, "this is simply shifting problems over your neighbour's fence."
He criticised von der Leyen’s remarks, reminding her of the true purpose of his visit.
“I came here to present the programme of the Hungarian presidency (...), but you decided to turn it into a political party clash,” the PM added.
Firmly dismissing her statements, Orbán argued that the Commission should act as the guardian of the treaties and maintain neutrality.
He also said it was “not right” to focus on the differences between Hungary and the Commission when he aimed to discuss the Council’s priorities, adding this would not have happened in the past.
Returning to the Ukraine question, he called for a strategic shift. "The European Union has a mistaken strategy," he said, adding that without altering the EU approach, “we will all lose."
[Edited by Martina Monti]
