‘Get your hat and leave,’ Hungary’s Orban tells EU top officials

By Anita Komuves and Gergely Szakacs

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The European Union’s top officials must be replaced as they do not deserve another chance after the impending European Parliament elections, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

The nationalist leader faces one of the toughest elections of his 14-year rule with his country’s economy in recession, an abuse scandal striking his family-values platform at its core, and a political newcomer threatening to upend the status quo.

Despite those challenges, Orban’s Fidesz remains the most popular party in Hungary, but the emergence of a former government insider, Peter Magyar, as a vocal critic of the premier has infused the vote with an added sense of uncertainty.

“There is trouble in Brussels, big trouble. The (EU) leadership has failed,” Orban told supporters, in an unusually short, 15-minute speech, launching Fidesz’s campaign for the June 6-9 ballot.

“If you have performed badly over the course of your mandate, put your voters in danger, and if they do not expect anything more from you, there is only one thing left: Get your hat and leave.”

Orban said Europe’s economy was in decline and he also criticised the West’s policy of supporting Ukraine’s war effort against Russia’s invasion, which he said could spill over into a broader conflict unless the EU changed tack.

Orban has long been at odds with his EU allies and Washington over a range of issues, including refusing to send weapons to Kyiv and maintaining economic ties with Moscow since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Budapest has also been locked in disputes with the European Commission over rule-of-law reforms that have resulted in the suspension of billions of euros’ worth of EU funds for Hungary.

MAGYAR PROBED

As Orban spoke, a new office tasked with probing foreign meddling in Hungarian elections launched an inquiry into Magyar on suspicions over foreign funding for his campaigns as the political novice toured the countryside to drum up support.

Magyar hopes to benefit from Hungary’s economic woes and widespread voter disenchantment with other opposition parties, which have failed to mount a credible challenge to Orban over multiple elections

Hungarian consumer spending has still not recovered from the worst inflationary surge in the EU last year, while the budget posted a large shortfall in the first quarter, prompting Orban’s government to lift the deficit target and delay investments.

“While the political and economic backdrop is favorable for Magyar’s TISZA party to perform reasonably well in the European Parliament and local elections, it is nowhere close to outperforming Fidesz,” said Andrius Tursa at Teneo think-tank.

“The ruling party is polling at around 40-42%, holds a stable and committed voter base and can employ vast administrative resources to its advantage.”