Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar said the parliamentary elections scheduled for April will determine whether the country will consolidate its place as a European nation and whether it will be able to jumpstart its stagnant economy by releasing EU funds, Reuters reported.
The opposite path would be to go in an authoritarian direction, Magyar stressed.
In the vote in April, Hungary’s center-right Tisza is the most serious threat to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has held the reins of power for more than five years.
The Hungarian parliamentary elections will also be a test for Europe’s far-right at a time when the region is grappling with an increasingly aggressive Russia, the war in Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) policies.
Speaking during the election campaign, Magyar criticized Orbán’s warm relations with Russia and other former Soviet states, such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, and also harsh words were directed at the prime minister’s decision to grant Hungary observer status in the Organization of Turkic States. In an interview in the former mining village of Salgótarján, Magyar compared the election to a referendum that would force a choice between Europe and the Turkic States, and thus dictatorship. “It is about whether Hungary continues these 16 years of decline … or we set off to Europe and development, joining the Poles, Slovenians, Czechs and the Baltic states,” the politician added.
Orbán has sought to present Hungary as a bridge connecting the West and the East,
and has indicated that the country must act pragmatically to pursue its economic interests.
The latest polls show Magyar’s party ahead of Orbán’s Fidesz, and he has said that if elected, he would work to release the currently frozen EU funds. Their disbursement to Hungary was suspended when Orbán’s government’s reforms raised legitimate concerns about the rule of law.
The EU funds must be released by August or the country will lose them. Magyar said his government would act quickly to restore the rule of law and secure the disbursement of the funds.
The opposition leader also stressed that his government would seek to build constructive and friendly relations with the United States. Magyar said that Europe is currently facing very difficult economic, social and security policies, and that cooperation with the Trump administration must continue.
The US President, approaching the elections, has personally encouraged Orbán, indicating that he is a truly strong and confident leader, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that US-Hungarian relations have entered their “golden age.”
Read also: Orbán hopes for Trump help; Hungarian opposition demands explanation
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