Under pressure from Russia sanctions, Orban is turning against the EU

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday accused Brussels of hurting his country with sanctions against Russia, as the nationalist leader faced a new protest movement from teachers and students.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the capital yesterday, AFP reporters found, vowing to continue the protests in the coming weeks.

With this background, Mr. Orban he chose not to gather his followers in Budapest, as he traditionally does on the day of the Hungarian national holiday, which commemorates Hungary’s uprising against the USSR in 1956.

Instead, he delivered a speech 230 kilometers from the capital, in Zalaegerszeg (west), where he once again railed against the European Union.

“Let’s not worry about those who are shooting at Hungary from the shadows, from the vantage points of Brussels,” the right-wing nationalist politician said. “They will end up where their predecessors ended up,” he added, implying that he foresees the EU suffering a fate similar to that of the Soviet Union.

“He’s not a robot”

His speech followed his government’s launch in mid-October of a “national consultation” on European sanctions against Russia, which Viktor Orban has continued to criticize, even though Budapest, along with its partners, approved them.

In the capital and across the country, posters ahead of the “national consultation” proclaim, with a bomb depicted in the centre: “Brussels sanctions are destroying us”.

“War at our door, economic crisis and economic slowdown in the EU, invasion of migrants in the south (…), we have to face” multiple crises, said the Hungarian prime minister in his anniversary speech, assuring that his “strong and united” government he will overcome them.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Hungary, heavily dependent on imports of Russian hydrocarbons, has been careful to maintain good relations with the Kremlin in order to keep supplying it with gas and oil.

At the same time, it refuses to offer military aid to Kyiv and embellishes the policy of Brussels.

As the prime minister, who was re-elected in April, spoke, several protesters in the capital likened him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, the main demands they put forward were for increases and to improve working conditions in the education sector, which has been largely neglected in recent years, as unions complain.

Hungarian teachers, with monthly salaries ranging from 170,000 forints (410 euros) to 396,000 forints (950 euros), have now hardened their tone against the government, furious over the adoption in February of a legislative decree that drastically curtailed the right to strike.

Inflation in Hungary exceeded 20% in September and continues to rise. Skyrocketing prices for energy and other basic goods and services are hitting households hard. Government budget forecasts have already been disproved — instead of the 4.1% growth predicted, a 1% recession is now expected in 2023.

“Standing with my teachers,” “Enough!”, “Educators are not robots,” read placards held by protesters.

“At my school, we’re all fed up with the situation, we have to fight for the bare minimum: to have enough teachers, to have the right equipment,” said Onette Bondi, a high school student.

“Without teachers, there is no future,” read banners held by protesters.

RES-EMP

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