Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he was shocked by the low level of debate in the European Parliament and responded to the accusations so as not to “look like a weakling.”
On Wednesday, Orbán presented to MEPs in Strasbourg the program for the Hungarian EU Presidency, in which he highlighted the community's economic problems. His speech drew sharp criticism from members of the EP, in particular the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the head of the European People's Party Manfred Weber, who accused Orban of insufficient support for Ukraine and a retreat from democracy.
“I think not only I was surprised, but also the Hungarian audience, who had a different idea of Europe. They thought that there were intelligent people there... European culture for Hungarians is an expression of quality, but everyone saw that it was all below frog asses... I was in a state of culture shock. Politicians argued with me, ignoring facts, showing hatred and not caring about the people of Europe - only hatred, only attack,” Orban said on Kossuth radio.
The Hungarian Prime Minister noted that he was counting on “a fairly high-quality discussion about why the European economy is in trouble and lags behind the United States and China, and what needs to change in order to become competitive again,” but the listeners were in a “bloodthirsty mood.”
"When ten against one is rock and roll... I was in a difficult situation, because the Hungarian nation is polite and well-mannered... But when a person is attacked, there are two possibilities. One is to turn a deaf ear, I so and was going to, but there were so many of them and so rudely that I realized that if we continued to be nice, we would be considered weaklings. I decided that we could not give up and would not remain in anyone’s debt... Everyone got what they deserved. "I tried to protect Hungary," he added.
After the discussions ended, Orbán posted excerpts of his responses to criticism from von der Leyen and Weber on social media, calling himself the winner in all rounds in his caption.
