Giorgia Meloni's party distances itself from Viktor Orbán over his geopolitical position

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

An example to emulate: Giorgia Meloni's firm statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Viktor Orbán and what he means when he states that “the point of NATO is peace”

Orbán's speech can be heard in full here. In it he outlined the main lines of Hungary's rotating presidency of the European Union. In addition, yesterday Orbán held a press conference (here is the video) in which said that "Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield", accused the European Union of wanting to continue the war and stated that "both the leaders in Ukraine and Russia are convinced time is on their side. So, they don’t want to compromise or make peace."

Although I agree with many aspects of Orbán’s speech and applaud his denunciation of antisemitism today, which is increasing in Europe due to mass immigration (especially Muslim immigration), I strongly disagree with his position on Ukraine: it is not the EU that invaded Ukraine, but Russia. It is not the EU that wants war, but Russia. The EU institutions can be criticized on many levels, but their support for the Ukrainian cause is positive and necessary. It is immoral to accuse a country of not wanting peace when it is defending itself from aggression, and it is inconsistent for Orbán, who supports Israel, to make such criticism of Ukraine when both countries are in the same situation: defending themselves from aggression against their territory and their people.

On Wednesday, MEP Nicola Procaccini of the Fratelli d'Italia party (led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni) responded to Orbán on behalf of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. His speech can be listened to here. Procaccini expressed support for most of the priorities outlined by Orbán, but criticised his position on Russia.

The Italian MEP noted that "the peoples of the European Union are going through a period of chilling demographic winter, which must be tackled by taking better care of the primary building block of any political community: the family. And immigration cannot be the solution to falling birth rates."

Procaccini pointed out that both Orbán and the ECR have a common internal adversary: "the progressive fury that wants to cancel Western culture and with it the reason for our union". Furthermore, the Fratelli d'Italia MEP added:

"But we also have a much more dangerous external enemy that you seem to be unaware of, and that is the alliance of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The so-called chaos quartet, which is the antithesis of every Hungarian, European and Western patriot. The antithesis of freedom and beauty, of justice and democracy. Of those values ​​that define us and that we want to defend, as the boys from Buda taught us in 1956."

Of course, I subscribe to Procaccini's words and the position of the ECR, just as I did a year ago and two years ago. Of course, Orbán's position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine completely removes any attempt at rapprochement between the ECR and Patriots for Europe.

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Photo: miniszterelnok.hu.