The MEPs for Fidesz, the long-time governing conservative party in Hungary, released a statement on Tuesday, 12 September, voicing their official support of the new common procurement act (EDIRPA) proposed in the European Parliament. The act would allocate €300 million in funds to ‘incentivise the joint procurement of urgent and critical defence products needed in the context of the response to Russia’s war on Ukraine’, as the EP’s official website summarizes it, and the vote on the proposition is due to happen later today in Strasbourg, France.
The Fidesz MEP statement, in part, read:
‘The new facility is key to strengthening European defence industry and capacity,
weakened by failed leftist-liberal policies, and so our group supports the initiative.’
‘The European Union can only face escalating security challenges with globally competitive defence and military capabilities,’ Fidesz EP group leader Kinga Gál later claimed, elaborating on the commniqué. She also stated that she believes that ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war had proved that strengthening the Union’s defence industry and infrastructure was long overdue, and that it is in Europe’s fundamental interest. She went on to say increasing cooperation between member states on the matter could improve responsiveness and production capacities.
Meanwhile, her fellow Fidesz MEP András Gyürk also stressed that the current state of the European defence industry is caused
by the failures of leftist-liberal policies ‘dismantling’ it,
and that these deficiencies in defence must be remedied swiftly for the sake of the European citizens’ security. Also, he hopes that it may lead to investment in the Hungarian military industry—which has seen significant amounts of capital injected into by the Hungarian national government recently.
The largest political group in the EP with 176, the European People’s Party (EPP), has also come out in support of the EDIRPA bill, making it a lot more likely to pass.
Back in May, the Hungarian government faced some international backlash for blocking a €500 million payment to Ukraine in military aid from the European Peace Facility (EPF). Back then, the Orbán administration justified its decision by saying that European defence spending should not exclusively focus on Ukraine. With their support of this new facility, they have proven to be true to their professed commitments.
Related articles:
