Vice-President of the European Commission and chief diplomat of the EU, Josep Borrell, reacted to the statements of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who compared the European Union to a "bad parody" of the USSR.
Borrell, during the "Europe and the World" conference, reminded Orbán of the Soviet occupation of Budapest in 1956, stressing that he does not see similarities between this event and the actions of the European Commission. He also noted that no one is forcing Hungary to remain a member of the EU.
"Honestly, I do not see any similarity between the Soviet occupation of Budapest and what is happening in Berlamont (the office building where the headquarters of the European Commission is located). I didn't see any tank there. "No one obliges Hungary to be a member of the EU," he said.
These words were preceded by an emergency meeting of the ambassadors of NATO and Sweden in Budapest due to Viktor Orban's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. The US ambassador expressed concerns about the talks between Putin and Orban in view of Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine.
In response to the American envoy's statements, Orbán's entourage reacted with denial, noting that it is not the US government that determines Hungarian foreign policy. Hungary is a member of NATO and the EU, supported sanctions against Russia.
"It is not up to the American ambassador to determine Hungarian foreign policy," Prime Minister Gergey Guijas said on the TV channel ATV.
