The contents of this website are no longer being updated. You can access all the latest Hungarian news in English formerly featured on the Hungary Matters website and daily newsletters at our refurbished mti.hu portal.

The must-have newsletter about Hungary

ORBÁN DECLARES START OF 'NEW ERA'

Viktor Orbán declared the start of a “new era”, announcing in Vienna a new European political pact with Herbert Kickl, the head of the Austrian Freedom Party, and Andrej Babis, the former prime minister of the Czech Republic, who heads the ANO party.
 

“One era of European politics started in 1989 with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, and this era has concluded” with the outcome of the European Parliament elections, the Hungarian prime minister told a press conference held in Vienna. “This 25-year era is now over.” He added that the decisive moment of the new era was the formation of a new European political group, “which will change European politics”. Orbán said a political force was being formed hat would soon become “the strongest grouping” of the European right wing. “European politics must be changed; Europe must change,” he added. In 20 of the 27 EU member states, parties that promised change won the European parliamentary elections, he said. But “the Brussels elite resisted,” he said. “They didn’t accept” the outcome, he added. “They don’t want change; they want to maintain the status quo. This is unacceptable,” Orbán said, adding that the new grouping would “bring about change in the face of the Brussels elite”. Orbán unveiled a new “Patriots’ manifesto” that outlined the grouping’s ideals and goals.