Leftist author urges the EU to get tough on Russia – and Hungary
July 6th, 2022A left-wing commentator excoriates the European Union for what he sees as its habit of procrastinating instead of confronting Russia and PM Orbán of Hungary.
In Népszava, Tamás Beck goes so far as to suggest that the war in Ukraine became possible because the European Union failed to confront Viktor Orbán in the 2010s, despite what he defines as the Prime Minister’s project to build an autocracy. Putin, he explains, was emboldened by that same hesitant attitude, to launch his invasion. Meanwhile, the Russian leader was also confident that Mr Orbán would paralyse European reaction to his aggression by vetoing key decisions, he suggests. He hopes the EU will get rid of the rule of unanimity within the European Council which will leave Mr Orbán ‘without a trump card’ in EU-level decision-making.