The European Union Threatens to Withdraw Funding from Hungary for Allegedly Getting too Close to Putin
Jose Nino
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The European Union is on the verge of punishing Hungary for its maintenance of relatively warm relations with Russia.
Over the last few years, the EU has harassed Hungary for its nationalist policies on immigraton all the way to social values. It has also accused Hungary of having rampant corruption, despite the Central European country taking measures to stamp out corruption.
On September 18, 2022, the EU threatened to cut off 7.5 billion euros that were initially allocated towards Hungary. The EU cited ongoing corruption and fraud as the reasons for potentially cutting off Hungary.
Though there could be more to the story than meets the eye. The government of Viktor Orbán has maintained relatively stable relations with Russia, even after Russia launched its military incursion into Ukraine.
On top of that, Hungary has called for exemptions from EU energy sanctions on Russia, while keeping gas and other energy prices low as the rest of Europe has to potentially deal with a rough winter. Many EU experts believe that because countries like Hungary are not pulling their weight, the sanctions have not been able to fully damage the Russian economy.
A Bloomberg report highlighted the EU’s frustration with Hungary: “But while most member states have been engaged in a desperate scramble to secure alternative gas supplies ahead of the winter, Orban has deepened his country’s ties to the Kremlin, exploiting the exemptions he demanded from EU sanctions to secure increased imports of gas from Russia.”
“During years of frustration at the Hungarian government, Orban has been shielded from the EU’s main disciplinary machinery, known as the article 7 procedure, by the support of the nationalist government in Warsaw — because that mechanism too requires the endorsement of all the other members,” Bloomberg added. “The war in Ukraine has soured Orban’s relationship with the Polish government, which has been among the most ardent supporters of firm action against Putin, but for now the Poles are standing by Orban.”
Poland has also been clashing with the EU over its judicial reforms, which Brussels views as an assault on the “rule of law.” BLP previously reported that Poland and Hungary are two of the main Western states that the globalist ruling class has yet to fully tame.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on August 18, “Poland will strongly oppose any action of European institutions that intend to unduly deprive any member states of funds, in this case Hungary.”
Orbán has blamed the Collective West for letting the Russo-Ukrainian conflict get out of hand. On top of that, the Hungarian leader believes that anti-Russia sanctions have blown up in EU member nations’ faces.
Hungary has had choice words for the European Parliament’s (EP) recent effort to green light a resolution proclaiming that Hungary is no longer a “full democracy.” The non-binding EP vote that took place last week alluded to Hungary’s inability to maintain “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”
Given Hungary’s realist foreign policy outlook, that makes foreign policy grand strategists in Washington DC, Brussels, and London mad, and its nationalist policies designed to protect its national identity, it’s easy to see why it’s so demonized.
For the globalist ruling class, any country that pursues its national interest is one that ultimately must face persecution.
That happens when a political bloc is zonked out on a universalist foreign policy vision that denies national interest and sovereignty.
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