Leader of French far-right in EP stands against condemning Orbán’s "peace initiatives"
It is impossible to condemn Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his "diplomatic" maneuvers, while supporting Ukraine on the way to NATO will allegedly contribute to the escalation of the war.
This opinion was expressed by the leader of the French far-right in the new composition of the European Parliament, Jordan Bardella, who spoke during the first debate regarding support for Ukraine ahead of the vote on the resolution on the need for further support of Ukraine from the EU", which should take place later on Wednesday, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"This resolution condemns Viktor Orbán's visits to Russia. I cannot blame Hungary, our key partner in the transatlantic alliance, for negatively influencing the situation when they try to start a discussion," Bardella said, stating that the document regarding Ukraine is unacceptable on several levels.
He also claims that support for Ukraine on the way to its accession to NATO is allegedly problematic and that it "could lead to an escalation of war."
The far right do not agree with the financial level of support proposed by the resolution. According to one of the options, each member state must contribute 0.5% of GDP per year to this end: "In France it will be EUR 7 billion per year. The resolution thus threatens the survival of our economy and agriculture. In particular, it will seriously affect the common agricultural policy".
At the same time, the president of the far-right "National Union" reiterated his election campaign statements that Europe "cannot allow Russian imperialism to absorb Ukraine, violate Ukraine's sovereignty or threaten international order and peace."
As Ukrinform reported earlier, deputies from the far-right French party "National Union" previously officially joined the "Patriots for Europe" group created in the European Parliament by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In addition to the "National Union" and "Fidesz", the group also took on board the parties "Lega" (Italy), Vox (Spain), Chega (Portugal), ANO (Czech Republic), "Christian Democratic People's Party" (Hungary), Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), "Party for Freedom" (the Netherlands), Belgian Vlaams Belang, and others.
After his visit to Kyiv, Orbán visited Moscow and Beijing, where he tried to discuss "peaceful initiatives" to end the war in Ukraine. Later, he also met with the U.S. presidential candidate from the Republican Party, Donald Trump.
Following the tour, the Hungarian Prime Minister forwarded his "peace plan" for the settlement of the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine to all European leaders, pointing out the need to "change course."
According to media reports, Orbán also said in his letter that, if Trump wins the U.S. elections, he will wait for the inauguration, but "will be ready to immediately act as a peace mediator", and he has "detailed and well-founded plans to this end".
For its part, the European Commission took an unprecedented step by banning its members from attending meetings held in Hungary during the country's EU presidency. Some EU governments also plan to send only senior civil servants, not ministers, to ministerial meetings in Hungary.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, reminded Orbán that the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU never received a mandate to conduct negotiations on behalf of the European Union.
Photo: EP