by Andrea Cantelmo –
October 23 in Hungary is not a date like the others: on this day the beginning of the Budapest uprising against the power of the Soviet Union in 1956 is commemorated. The uprising lasted for almost 20 days and was violently repressed by armed intervention by Soviet troops led by Marshal Ivan Konev.
The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, in a public speech in honor of the Hungarian revolution, equated the occupation of the USSR, which lasted several decades, with today’s membership of the European Union. The Hungarian leader accused Brussels of trying to eliminate Hungary’s identity and peculiarities and of trying to impose a model of liberal democracy that the Hungarian people do not accept. In fact – again according to Orbàn – the European Union adopts methods comparable to those used by Moscow at the time of Soviet domination. “The EU’s attempts to impose its policies and beliefs are reminiscent of Soviet times. It is true that history always repeats itself twice: the first in tragedy, the second in farce. Fortunately Brussels is not Moscow. Moscow was a tragedy, while today Brussels is a parody,” Orbán declared during his speech during the commemoration of the anti-Soviet Hungarian uprising of 1956.
Once again, therefore, the Prime Minister of Hungary did not spare any blows to the European Union, demonstrating a relationship that has never been more in the balance than in this period. Orbán’s continuing challenge to the European leaders had already been enriched by a new chapter on Sunday following the announcement by Alexey Miller, CEO of Gazprom, in which he explained that Budapest will expand imports of Russian gas starting from this winter. Actions in total contrast to the disengagement of other EU member countries towards the purchase of fossil fuels from Moscow.
The tug of war between Brussels and Budapest has been going on for years now, but in recent months it has reached heights never reached before. The acrimony of this period probably arises from the lack of agreement to release the EU funds (27.8 billion euros) intended for Hungary and frozen in recent months due to a violation of European rules on the Rule of Law by the government of Orbàn. The sovereignism of the Hungarian leader, characterized by provocations aimed at igniting the nationalist spirit of the people and by the rapprochement (if ever there was a separation) with Putin’s Russia for the purchase of raw materials, seems to be aimed exclusively at pushing the European Union to release the funds for Budapest to avoid compromising relations with a strategic ally, especially in this historical phase. In conclusion, this is a totally false and hypocritical anti-Europeanism, carried out by a person who knows very well that his country’s economic growth is practically linked to the EU’s cohesion policies, as demonstrated by the data of past years.
