“Hungary, I want to stop here and be honest. Once and for all. You have to decide for yourself who you are with.” This was the appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a recent EU Council summit. Zelenskyy implored Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán to choose whether he sides with or against Putinism.
Ultimately, it is up to Hungarians to decide. Hungary goes to the polls this weekend, in an election which could determine its future in the European Union. Viktor Orbán has battled with the EU constantly over rule of law, migration, and “illiberal democracy”. These battles are likely to continue if Orbán extends his 12 year reign by another four years, raising the question of whether Hungary may be sliding down the path to Hunxit.
Will Hungary’s upcoming election decide its place in Europe? We teamed up with Euronews and organised a TV debate to discuss the upcoming vote. Orbán (currently leading in the polls) is facing a serious challenge from six opposition parties, led by the conservative mayor of a small Hungarian city, Péter Márki-Zay. What could the election mean for the rest of the EU?
MEPs from both sides of the political spectrum took part in the debate, including Michal Šimečka, Tineke Strik and Gerolf Annemans, as well as political expert András Bíró-Nagy. They responded to questions from readers posed by Caroline Will, our DebatingEurope/DE editor.
Could Hungary’s upcoming election lead to Hunxit? Will it strengthen Hungary’s place in the EU? What will be the impact on European unity and solidarity? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!
IMAGE CREDITS: Kremlin.ru
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Cannot be trusted news chanel (biased, supporting Marxist, globalist idologies)…check out what is behind the scene with English subtitles https://youtu.be/vjIlWjtiN0E
Respect Hungary and Poland democratic votes. They are conservative and so do we in France
Is this not intervening domestic politics of Hungary by the European Parliament?
Hi JT HK, thank you for your comment.
Euronews is an independent organisation that covers a variety of Europe-wide and national issues.
Debates do not constitute what you have referred to.
This discussion included perspectives from different political views and countries (Hungary, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium).
I hope the Orban’s pro-putinist regime will be defeated and it will help to defeat other European illiberal far-right gangs.
forse hanno dimenticato quando unione sovietica fecce la stessa cosa come adesso in ukraina!
fingers crossed, I hope you’re not over-optimistic
Whoever wins, I find it interesting that the 2 countries singled out for “punishment” by the EC for illiberal actions & non compliance with EU regs on rule of law, (Poland & Hungary) are the selfsame ones bearing the brunt of welcoming the exodus of ukrainian refugees.
and what is interesting about that? Apart from the fact that those two border up to Ukraine and due to that are the most natural place to go to for refugees?
In Latvia we border up to Belarus and we have gotten a lot of people who fled Orbans insane regime (plus the migrants he imported to try and pressure us).
not sure what happened to my earlier response….don’t you find it ironic that the 2 countries responding to the majority of the humanitarian crisis unfolding are the 2 currently being financially penalised by the EC for contravening their rules of good governance ?
no I don’t. I’m wondering why you do.
clearly, irony is in the eyes of the beholder.
irony? All I see is you being an old white keyboard fighter trying to pollute the internet with your ignorant views. I mean come on. If you can’t even recognise that the refugees has to pass through exactly those countries to get out, I have no words.
well I have to confess my ethnicity..but I prefer to use “mature”.
You seem to be a little obtuse…my observation was on the incongruence on the EC “naming & shaming” these 2, whilst praising their actions on refugees..the overwhelming majority of whom are not “passing through”…but are being hosted by them…..though this will likely change
for them if the refugees are from the next door country and white its ok, but anyone else, they hate. Anyway Paul Vincent they are not in trouble with the EU over immigration, but over rule of law, dismantling democracy, corruption of EU funds and minority discriminations.
uhmmmm «Por outro lado, o prefeito conservador Péter Márki-Zay está liderando uma oposição unida.» cheira a dólaressssss
Well! Let the hungarians decide their own future with no interferance from the ones that do not live there….who the hell you guys think you are!? The owners of wisdom and truth? Which truth? The one you stopped for a while and actually think about it or the one social media flushed down your brains?
Eyes should be on Hungary once there are chances it can become radicalized at any time!
Hope orban will be re-elected to defend an illiberal policy.. Your so called liberal policy is infeodation to USA and multinationals against interests of the European peoples
I hope you will respect the democratic choice of the Hungarian sovereign people. EU should not interfere into the political choice of people’s
well, it is no longer democratic when the media is controlled by the one in power.
Viktor Orban has dictatorial atitudines and he is a friend of Putin… Does EU have rules how to handle such kind of member states? 🤔
A friend of Putin equal to dictatorship? Another brain dead.
What you don’t understand? 🤔
Hanno dimenticato quando i Urss entro con i tank in hungeria! Forse i ungheresi piace il masochismo! Verdetto delle urne ci dira se veramente masochismo e un sindrome solo di Urban!
Hungary has the sovereign decision to choose their preferred leader. The Hungarians are very clever. It is only a very simple choice of all human beings, as long as it is a choice between peace and prosperity or war and suffer.