Dispute over EP corruption rolls on

Commentators from Right and Left ponder the broader repercussions of the European Parliament corruption scandal.

Magyar Nemzet’s László Szőcs likens corrupt EU politicians to the Hungarian Left, claiming that both serve the interest of foreign actors rather than representing the will and interests of their voters. The pro-government commentator suspects that the EP corruption scandal will further weaken public trust in the EU.

In Magyar Hírlap, László Bogár interprets the EP corruption scandal as a war of competing concealed conspiratorial powers. The pro-government pundit finds the scandal not in the least surprising, since in his view, ‘the EU power structure is based on corruption, theft and swindle’. He speculates that the MEPs involved in the scandal were ‘puppets of a hidden globalist world power’ and their corrupt business was uncovered by the ‘German techno-empire’. Bogár goes so far as to suggest that ‘the Fourth German Empire’ took revenge on the ‘globalist power’ for blowing up the North Stream gas pipeline, and also intended to weaken the European Parliament in order to help EC President Ursula von der Leyen cover up her even bigger corruption cases and solve the disputes with Hungary.

Népszava’s Tamás Rónay suggests that the EP corruption scandal is actually further proof that the EU takes its own anti-corruption principles very seriously. The left-wing columnist therefore finds absurd suggestions from the Hungarian right that the case highlights the corrupt nature of the EU. Rónay notes that EU authorities immediately took tough measures, including freezing Eva Kaili’s assets – something that Hungarian pro-government oligarchs do not have to fear.

On Mérce, Csaba Tibor Tóth contends in a long essay that the government will use the scandal to ridicule the EU and accuse it of using double standards by accusing Hungary of corruption. Tóth recalls that Prime Minister Orbán has already called for ‘draining the swamp’ in Brussels. The alt-left blogger thinks the EU should become more proactive at fighting not only illegal corruption but also lawful lobbying that amounts to systemic corruption, as it helps multinational companies determine workers’ lives and the use of public resources.

Tags: corruption, EU, European Parliament