Orbán – The Isolated Savior

Months before the Hungarian Council presidency, the political world was already engaged in a lively debate about Orbán’s leadership. So far, he didn’t disappoint the expectations. But it is questionable if his calculation adds up.

Source: https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/newsroom/joint-letter-ep-group-leaders-eu-leaders-ahead-european-council-meeting

Beginning with the slogan “Make Europe Great Again,” politics in the style of Trump, Orbán caused equally disbelief and embarrassment among many Europeans. With the publication of this agenda, most officials in the EU already got a taste of what was about to follow. Promptly, in his first presidency week, Orbán delivered the kind of politics MEGA promised. He did not only fly to Moscow as one of the first European politicians since Putin started the war on Ukraine and shook hands with a wanted war criminal. No, he also continued his heroic trip with a stop in Beijing to ensure China was also in the boat. In disguise as an agent of international diplomacy, the savor of the peaceful world, and the alleged voice of Europe, Orbán disregarded the EU’s positioning towards Russia, towards China. He mispresented the EU’s political alignment in both conflicts, the Russia-Ukraine war and the trade war with China—the reaction of European leaders:  Expectably restrained.

Probably, he anticipated that his behavior would cause acid regurgitation in Brussels and the European capitals. But it is questionable if he knows he is the bogeyman on both sides of the conflicts now. European politicians publicly distanced themselves from his actions and stressed that his agenda does not comply with theirs. Diplomats and bureaucrats stay away from the periodic presidency meeting in Budapest and boycott the cooperation with Orbán and his government. And at the NATO summit, these beautiful scenes became public, in which all participants connect, network, and exchange. At the same time, Orbán sits quietly and isolated in his seat, ignored by everyone, like the conniving kid in the class that nobody wants to talk to. Is this the kind of guy that a Putin or a Xi Jinping would reach out to to express their positions toward Europe? I doubt it. Orbán is a traitor in the eyes of Europe and a weak man in the eyes of Russia and China.

On the world stage, Orbán is more isolated than ever. Europeans boycott him, and Russia and China use him as their puppets. He might have the Presidency of the Council for now. Politically, he is weaker than ever, though.