Hungary: Emmanuel Macron visits his European opponent Viktor Orban
French President Emmanuel Macron and President Viktor Orban at a European summit, October 6, 2021 © Petr David Josek / AP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The French president is on an official visit to Budapest on Monday, December 13, where he completes his tour of Europe, before France takes over the presidency of the European Union on January 1.
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Emmanuel Macron will meet the four leaders of the Visegrad group (comprising Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia), before meeting with Viktor Orban and with leaders of the Hungarian opposition.
Thursday, December 9, the French head of state spoke of "
a political opponent, but a European partner
" to evoke Viktor Orban with whom he is opposed on many subjects.
“
Whatever our political sensitivities, our choices, we must work together for our Europe and therefore, my duty is to carry the voice of France and to help build useful compromises for Europe.
"
Viktor Orban has however often been cited by Emmanuel Macron as the leader of a nationalist and sovereignist camp in the EU, to which he opposes that of the “
progressive
”
Europhiles
.
Appeal for help from a Hungarian opposition politician
Before this visit by the French Head of State, Gabor Eröss, local elected representative of the Hungarian opposition, member of an environmental party and deputy mayor of the 8th district of Budapest, addresses in an open letter to Emmanuel Macron. The opponent attacks on RFI the extreme right-wing policy of Viktor Orban: “
Mr. Macron, Hungary where you are going is governed by the extreme right. For twelve years soon, there have been repeated hate campaigns targeting and stigmatizing vulnerable groups: whether they are the Roma, that is to say the Gypsy minority, the homeless, migrants or currently the gay community and lesbian
. "
For Gabor Eröss, hate speech and stigmatizing minorities serve to hide the “
pervasive generalized corruption, which exists in the highest spheres of power.
Viktor Orban's own son-in-law has been pinned down by the European Union's anti-fraud agency.
Every time they cheat, it is European taxpayers, including the French themselves, who are robbed.
There you are, French, you are robbed by a Prime Minister of the extreme right, racist and extremist, head of a mafia system in place in Hungary for eleven and a half years already.
"
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Also to listen: International report - Hungary: corruption around Viktor Orban
Gabor Eröss thus calls on Emmanuel Macron to ensure that the values of the European Union are respected: "
We need a French presidency which enforces, and not only on paper, the values of the Republic, which are the same as the values of the European Union.
Values that Viktor Orban flouts
”.
Bring up points of disagreement
The French presidency ensures that Emmanuel Macron will speak on points of disagreement on Monday.
The Hungarian LGBT + community notably called on the French president to raise the subject during his meeting with Viktor Orban, in an open letter to the French magazine LGBT + Têtu.
As soon as he arrives in Budapest, the French president will also go to the grave of the philosopher Agnès Heller, who died in 2019. A figure of the opposition to Viktor Orban whom he had received at the presidential palace of the Elysee in 2018 .
►
To read also: Crossroads of Europe - Sovereignty: the word that divides Europe
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Viktor Orban
Hungary
France
Corruption