According to Fidesz, a vital election is coming, the stakes of the June 9 European Parliament election are whether there will be war or peace. Tamás Menczer, the communication director of the governing parties, spoke about this in the public media last week. So far, Fidesz has not been able to come up with anything new in this year’s campaign, they formulated exactly the same goal before the 2022 parliamentary elections.
“No migration, no gender, no war!” Viktor Orbán also issued the already familiar password at Fidesz’s campaign opening event on Friday, where an election manifesto was adopted. But what are the stakes of the June 9 election according to the opposition parties?
According to Péter Magyar, who burst into politics in February, one of the stakes of the election is whether Hungary will send “the same unskilled, non-speaking, drug-addicted politicians” as before to Brussels, or – as he put it – “so many graduates, speaking several languages, patriotic people we nominate.” THE Tisza Party however, according to the leader of the list, there is a more important stake in the June 9 election. “If the Tisza Party achieves a result on June 9 that can be seen from the moon, or at least from Carmelita, then change in this country will come much faster than many dare to hope.”
A Democratic Coalition according to him, the stakes of the EP election are that austerity or an early election will follow. “If Orbán wins a majority, then austerity will follow in the same way as after the 2022 parliamentary elections,” they wrote in their response to our newspaper. According to them, nothing proves this better than the fact that, contrary to its years-long practice, the government plans to submit next year’s budget only in the fall, long after the elections.
“If Orbán loses his majority, we will demand an early election. This goal cannot be expressed in terms of European Parliament mandates, only in votes, says the DK’s answer. “The goal of the Social Democrat-Green alliance is for Orbán to lose his remaining honor and control over the country with the pardon scandal, and then lose his majority and then his power on June 9.”
Setting a joint EP list with DK MSZP to this he added that the stakes of the municipal elections held on the same day as the EP elections were “whether the free settlements will remain, whether their number will increase, whether we will preserve the strength of the local communities, or whether their autonomy will cease permanently and the municipalities will be subordinated to the government”.
According to the socialists, it will be decided on June 9 whether “Orbán’s majority will be shaken, whether the authoritarian system of national cooperation will begin to be dismantled, or whether the Fidesz government will be able to continue building its power in the midst of a serious economic, livelihood and moral crisis.”
A Dialogue-Greens its goal is also to defeat Fidesz together with the DK and MSZP on June 9, and to demonstrate “unequivocally and clearly” that the Orbáns have “lost the trust of the majority”. And in the municipal election, I want to preserve freedom, free cities, and Budapest as a republic. “We must do everything in order to bring the necessary, obtainable resources for this and – instead of oligarchs – to spend them on the Hungarian people and to improve their living conditions and quality, as the capital led by Gergely Karácsony is doing.”
The Democratic Coalition, the MSZP and Párbeszéd – GREENS joint municipal and European Parliament election campaign opening event on 04/14/2024 at the Congress Center – Photo: István Huszti / Telex
A Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party in addition to the general assembly in the capital, they want to get into the boards of all local governments where they run for election, because since 2019 they have proven that they take local government work seriously. “The XII. in the district we have passed a successful primary election, the goal is to defeat Fidesz after the opposition system parties. We want to get 705 representatives in the EP, but we are happy with three”.
A Momentum its candidates undertook in the statement adopted at their campaign opening on Friday that, if elected, they would do everything to ensure that “the free Hungarian cities receive as many direct EU funds as possible as soon as possible”. They wrote: the MEPs will work to ensure that “non-direct EU funds, which can be distributed by the member states’ governments, are allocated by the EU only if Hungary joins the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.”
They would like to achieve that the deep energy efficiency renovation of 100,000 apartments starts every year from direct EU funds; funds should be easily available at local bank branches; and increase the proportion of direct resources. “At the European level, we will fight to achieve that the EU includes joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of the conditions for access to EU funds; applicants who OLAF discovers abuses should be automatically blacklisted in the EU; and the EU should act against corruption with modern, data-based methods”.
The LMP in short, he only replied to our inquiry that his most important election goals were the party in his election program can be read. “We are running in the European Parliament elections because we are convinced that Hungary needs green representation in the European Parliament. Our representatives will use the voice of common sense and calmness to present an alternative in Europe as well,” says the program’s introduction.
“The first and most important stake of the EP elections due on June 9 is none other than the protection of Hungary’s EU membership, the restoration of the honor of our country squandered by the Orbáns, and the credit of the Hungarian nation,” answered Péter Róna, the Jobbik-Conservatives leader of the list. He considers it his personal mission to bring home “the EU funds withheld due to Orbán’s corruption, which is also well known in Brussels, directly – bypassing the Fidesz Stromans – to the local governments”.
It was led by Péter Jakab People’s Party they consider their most important goal to be to take back control from Orbán, because they think the prime minister is the obstacle to our catching up with the West. “Since the early parliamentary elections have not been supported by the opposition, we are now raising the fight to the European level. We want an EU guarantee for an Orbán-free Europe, so in case of winning a mandate, we will initiate that one person in the European Union can be prime minister twice at most”.
“The traditional stake of the June election is who and with what program will represent Hungary in the EP, but with the beginning of a new political era with the pardon scandal, the election on June 9 also got a new stake – began his answer from Gábor Vona’s party, the During the Second Reformation. – “The essence of this is whether the “new opposition” will be born in addition to, but mostly instead of, the “old opposition”, which would be a prerequisite for real change. For us, any result is progress, since we are a new party, but we are confident that we will succeed in gaining a mandate”.
It was led by Péter Márki-Zay Everyone’s Hungary People’s Party According to him, the stakes of the June election are where Hungary will go next: “to the East, where Viktor Orbán and his government are trying to steer Hungary’s ship, or to the West, where we have always belonged”. According to them, it will depend on the elected members of the European Parliament whether they manage to return Hungary to the path of decency, democracy and the rule of law. In their response to our newspaper, they wrote: they developed a program based on four pillars, which is based on security, truth, health and a predictable future.
Their goals include fighting for direct EU support for local governments, forcing them to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and they want to create a European Union “that can protect itself and its citizens, for stricter border protection, for the establishment of a common European Union army.” , they will work for the establishment of an organization fighting terrorism and for the protection of European culture.
