Hungary prime minister hints at exit from the European Union for the first time

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has for the first time hinted at his country’s possible departure from the European Union. He did so during a speech in the capital Budapest. The right-wing nationalist leader hopes to be re-elected in early April, but the opposition has united against him.

The EU is waging “a holy war, a jihad” in the name of the rule of law, Orban told his supporters. He demands “tolerance” from the EU towards Hungary, because the country does not want to become “like Western Europe”. Orban wants the union to stay together despite growing “cultural alienation” between member states. But without tolerance “it is no longer possible to continue on a common path”.

Orban’s speech came a few days before European judges rule on the EU’s new so-called rule of law mechanism. Under that arrangement, countries that violate the rule of law can be punished. They will then receive less money from the European pot. Hungary and Poland had lodged a complaint against the mechanism, which was adopted at the end of 2020.

European bodies and human rights organizations accuse Orban, who has ruled Hungary since 2010, of dismantling democracy and the rule of law.