Hungary’s Orban Vows to Resist Rule-of-Law Pressure From EU

(Bloomberg) -- Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban pushed back against European Union demands to do more to address rule-of-law concerns as he returned to an old trope of comparing the pressure from Brussels to Soviet-era dictates.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• An Oil Giant Quietly Ditched the World’s Biggest Carbon Capture Plant

• Nobody Wants Mutual Funds Now

• Israel Latest: Macron Warns Militants as Sides Trade Strikes

• Xi Makes Unprecedented Central Bank Visit in Sign of Focus on Economy

• China Repeats Its View That Israel Must Protect Civilians

The remarks, which came on the anniversary of his country’s failed 1956 uprising against communist rule, are likely to further escalate tensions with the EU over as much as $30 billion in suspended aid.

Two European Commission officials appeared to signal to the government in Budapest last week that it hasn’t done enough to tap some of the blocked funds as soon as the end of November, as some media previously reported. Hungary’s immediate task is to strengthen judicial independence in line with EU demands. The aid is vital to help plug a widening budget deficit.

“The reprimand from the comrades hasn’t changed, only it’s now called a conditionality mechanism,” Orban said in a speech in the western city of Veszprem. He likened the EU’s rule-of-law procedure to the communist party in Moscow telling off the leadership in Budapest before the advent of democracy in 1989 and called it a bad “parody.”

The latest spat came just days after Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin, leading Hungary’s NATO allies to raise security concerns. Opposition parties have also accused the prime minister of betraying the memory of the 1956 revolution by aligning with Putin and reshaping the way the uprising is commemorated in today’s Hungary.

In his speech on Monday, Orban said that unlike the Soviet Union, the EU wasn’t yet “beyond repair.”

“We used to have to dance to Moscow’s tune,” Orban said. “Even if Brussels whistles, we will dance as we wish and we won’t dance if we don’t want to.”

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Lululemon’s Founder Is Racing to Cure the Rare Disease Destroying His Muscles

• Inflation Raging at 130% Is Pushing Argentina Down a Radical Path

• The Price of Money Is Going Up, and It’s Not Because of the Fed

• The Ozempic Effect Is Coming for Everything From Kidney to Heart Disease Treatments

• UBS Looks Beyond Credit Suisse to Bank Even More Billionaires

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.