PM Orbán meets Ursula von der Leyen

A pro-government columnist finds it encouraging that after their first meeting, PM Orbán said it was ‘a good decision’ on his part to back her candidacy.

Magyar Hírlap’s Mariann Őry hopes that the new President of the European Commission will prove to be more pragmatic than her predecessor. She welcomes her statement that she understands the problems of the east European countries. Those countries have in practice often felt they were treated as second rate partners in the European Union, she remarks. Őry warns that Hungary’s critics, including Dutch Socialist Commissioner Frans Timmermans are already ‘sharpening their knives’ and much will depend on how the different portfolios will be distributed among the new Commissioners. ‘Pro-immigration forces’ in the European Parliament will ‘squeeze’ the candidates, she writes, and hopes Mrs. von der Leyen ‘will not promise them too much’.

Tags: Orbán, Timmermans, von der Leyen