Asked about the corruption scandal in the European Parliament, Orbán said Hungary, as a member of the EU, could not view the issue as an outsider. “Fortunately, the case doesn’t concern Hungarians, but it’s bad news for all EU member states,” he added.
Orbán said Hungary had disagreements with European institutions, which he said the country wanted to transform, but these institutions’ loss of credibility makes the community which Hungary is a part of weaker.
He said the case vindicated the Hungarian parliament’s decision regarding the future of the EU, namely that the EP in its current form needed to be wound up and the body should comprise representatives delegated by member states. The prime minister argued that lawmakers in national parliaments were under much stricter supervision. He noted that the EP in the past had been made up of lawmakers delegated by national parliaments, adding that it would be worthwhile to return to that system.
As regards his political view on the case, Orbán said the only solution against swamping was to “drain the swamp”.
Orbán said it could not be declared that corruption was only present on the left side of the political spectrum, referring to reports that more and more European People’s Party politicians were being implicated in the corruption scandal. This is a danger that threatens democratic politics everywhere and which must be fended off, he said. The question is why there weren’t any defence mechanisms in place given that “everyone in Brussels knew that this didn’t just start now,” he added.