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Mate Kocsis announces sovereignty protection bill
Last week Hungary's ruling party Fidesz KDNP held a meeting where the re-elected party leader Mate Kocsis spoke about the importance of defending Hungary's sovereignty, claiming it is "under attack".
Kocsis said one of the economic attacks on the country's sovereignty came from Brussels when the EU suggested that Hungary abolish the cuts in utility costs, special taxes, and the interest rate freeze. Regarding cultural attack, the Fidesz leader said migrants are posing a threat to the Central European Country, as well as 'gender ideology' that "Brussels wants to impose.
The Fidesz politician announced a bill, expected to be tabled in the fall, that would"make things harder for those selling out the country abroad in exchange for dollars". He said the legislation is intended to target "left-wing journalists, pseudo-NGOs and 'dollar' politicians aiming to gain political power by serving the interests of Democrat billionaires or multinational companies."
The Global Network for Independent Media expressed concerns over the 'sovereignty protection bill', saying "such a law, long feared, could pose a major threat to remaining independent media."
Orban: Hungary is just a nuisance for globalists
"Globalists want the European Commission and the US President. Hungary is just a nuisance for them," Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group meeting, according to pro-government daily, Magyar Nemzet. According to the report, Orban also stated that “[the globalists] would like to send Trump straight to jail, so that he wouldn't threaten the power of Soros and the Democrats.”
According to the far-right prime minister, Hungary's opponents intend to use the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine to push back Hungary to a time when "the fate of Hungarians was decided abroad." Orban warned that the stakes are extremely high this year because in most European countries, "the Soros empire, strengthened by the Democrats, is launching a Goliath-like attack on the right-wing media and national parties often operating without funds," he said.
Slovakia summons Hungarian ambassador over foreign minister's statements
The Slovak Foreign Ministry summoned Hungary's ambassador Csaba Balogh after Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó attended an event organised by the opposition party Alliance during the election campaign.
The Foreign Ministry told TASR Slovak news agency that “the ambassador was asked to convey to the Hungarian minister Slovakia's reservations about his interference in the country's election campaign, as well as his support for specific political subjects." The Slovak government considers such actions "beyond the norms of diplomatic communication." The ministry's statement higlights that Slovakia is "interested in building good relations with Hungary, in building on what connects the two countries and looking to the future." The leader of The Democrats, Eduard Heger said Hungary was interfering in the country's election campaign with the visit.
Support for EU membership amongst Hungarians is still strong
According to Policy Solutions' research, as of 2024, 72% of Hungarians would vote for Hungarians to remain in the European Union if a referendum were held. Previous surveys by Policy Solutions have shown at least 70% percent support for the EU membership. This recent study shows that despite the government's eurosceptic campaigns, the public's perception of EU membership remained strong.
Divided by political party supporters, voters of Momentum (96%) and the Democratic Coalition (91%) were most likely to state their pro-EU preference. Supporters of the ruling Fidesz-KDNP at 60% indicated the lowest support levels for the EU, even lower than the far-right Our Homeland Movement (62%).