In the category of “Who do you think you’re fooling?” we once again hear from Viktor Orban. (I know that should be “whom,” but it sounded stuffy, so I took a little literary license.)

But I digress.

I’m truly concerned that Hungary’s Prime Minister is losing his marbles. Because today — in a speech marking the anniversary of the failed 1956 uprising against Soviet repression — he warned the people of Hungary that they must “resist” the European Union (EU), which he said is “trying to topple” his government. [RFE/RL, October 23, 2024.]

“But isn’t Hungary a member of the EU?” . . . I hear you ask.

Well, yes, they are. Which is what is so disturbing. Because Orban — without providing a shred of evidence to back up his allegations — said the EU wants to install a “puppet government” in Hungary because “independent Hungarian politics are unacceptable to Brussels.” He added that the lessons of 1956 “tell us that we can only fight for one thing: Hungary and Hungarian freedom.” [Id.]

He spoke of the “entire European economy . . . [being] drawn into” the war in Ukraine, and of European leaders “indulging in the illusion of winning.” [Id.]

And further — and this is where he really goes off the rails: “We know they want to force us into the war, that they want to impose their migrants upon us . . . and hand over our children to gender activists.” [Id.]

Gender activists? What the hell . . . ??!!!

But he wasn’t through yet. He claimed that there is a plan that, once “victory is achieved on the eastern front,” Ukraine’s reinforced military will enable it to replace the Americans to guarantee the safety of Europe. And apparently that would be a fate worse than death, because, according to Orban,

“It means that we, Hungarians, could wake up one morning and see Slavic [i.e., Ukrainian] soldiers once again coming from the east and being deployed in Hungary. We don’t want that.” [Id.]

*. *. *

None of this is terribly surprising — except for that “gender activists” comment, which seems to have come from some deep, dark corner of his mind — inasmuch as Orban has been playing both sides of the field for years, openly wooing Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping while maintaining his country’s membership in both the EU and NATO. Even the fact that Hungary is the current holder of the rotating presidency of the EU Council has not served to soften his pro-Putin rhetoric.

Later on the same day, at a separate commemoration of the 1956 uprising, opposition politician Peter Magyar addressed Orban’s comments, saying that Hungary had been “tricked and deceived” by the Prime Minister’s Fidesz party. He said that Orban had “no authority to betray the heritage of 1956, has no authority to serve Russian interests.” [Id.]

And yet he continues to do so. It is a harsh reality for a country that has fought so hard for so long against oppression.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/23/24