Orbán criticises EU top jobs’ handling, Meloni remains silent

4 months ago 24

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán opposes the way majority countries are handling discussions over the division of the EU’s top jobs, adding it is excluding others, according to comments made during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who, for her part, remained silent.

“We cannot accept the creation of a majority and an opposition in Europe and a coalition dividing the top jobs,” Orbán said at a meeting in Rome.

At an informal summit last week, the EU centre-right EPP, EU socialists and liberal Renew proposed a package of names for the next EU top jobs.

The package, which remains on the table for this week’s talks, consists of incumbent European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, former Portuguese prime minister António Costa for European Council president, and Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for the bloc’s top diplomat post.

Orbán added that since 2014, “the Commission, supposed to be the guardian of the treaties, has become an actor, behaving like a government. Three parties formed a majority and acted like a government, with a majority and an opposition. Originally, Europe was not like this: it was based on the inclusion of everyone, both large and small, not on exclusions. As Hungary, we cannot accept this.”

For her part, Meloni preferred not to focus on this issue, although last week, she described as “surreal” the fact that “some came up with names” for the top jobs “without even attempting first a reflection on what the citizens’ indication was and what the change of pace on priorities should be.”

Orbán’s Fidesz will not join ECR

Meloni focused her speech on highlighting the close relations between Rome and Budapest and the need to boost them further.

“Hungary is an important European partner for us, a valuable ally, even within NATO… I am very pleased with the intensification of our political dialogue and the strengthening of our economic relations in recent months,” Meloni said.

However, despite the “excellent state of bilateral relations between Rome and Budapest,” the two leaders made clear that the issue of Fidesz joining the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is definitively closed.

“We did not discuss party matters because we already settled it on Monday in Brussels. We made it clear that we follow national policies and cannot be part of a political family that includes a Romanian party that is anti-Hungarian,” Orbán said, referring to AUR, the Romanian party that joined the ECR last week.

ECR had also requested a formal written statement from Fidesz expressing support for the Ukrainian cause as a prerequisite for joining the group, given Orbán’s ambiguous positions.

“We also discussed the conflict in Ukraine. We know very well that our positions do not always coincide, so I want to express my appreciation for Hungary’s stance so far… allowing other member states and allies to make very important decisions even when it did not fully agree”, Meloni explained.

The Italian leader also praised Hungary’s priorities in its upcoming EU presidency, especially addressing Europe’s demographic challenge and migration.

The two leaders emphasised the importance of experimenting with new forms and solutions for managing migration flows, starting with the Italy-Albania protocol, which “is the subject of a letter signed by a majority of member countries requesting this approach for the future,” Meloni said.

(Alessia Peretti – Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv)