Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi shared his views about the newly elected vice-president of the European Parliament on public radio on 22 January. He expressed his conviction that nothing will change with the replacement of Eva Kaili, as the ‘world of Brussels’ will remain the same.

Fitting the Norm

Hidvéghi appeared on a radio programme on public Kossuth radio last Sunday. He said that the new vice-president completely fits the norm in Brussels, representing the ‘dominant and fashionable’ line of conduct. He highlighted Angel’s LGBTQ activism, and from his involvement in all the recent, blatantly hypocritical Socialist attacks against governments and nations that uphold national sovereignty and Christian democratic values.

‘He was chosen as VP to fill the position left vacant by Eva Kaili, the former Socialist vice-president who is currently incarcerated’ the MEP reminded, adding: ‘When vice-presidents were elected for the first time in 2019, the ID party, which is right-wing and conservative, should have received the vice-presidency. They are almost completely excluded from everything, including the chance to occupy any office and the right to vote on who gets to sit on which committees. This is contrary to the will of the people, as these posts should be distributed according to the number of MEP seats that a given parliamentary group occupies..’

He stated that Fidesz’s EP group had backed ID candidate, Italian Annalisa Tardino at the time, but ‘the centre-left and left-wing alliance closed ranks once again,’ recalling that regrettably, the European People’s Party was also involved in the undemocratic process, as the breakdown of votes later revealed. ‘Nothing changes, Brussels continues to be a corrupt and politically manipulated world.’

He noted that an official EP programme was at one point organised, initiated by Kaili, with a particular emphasis on a piece of software designed to screen out child abuse and child pornography based on keywords, and personal information obtained from Europeans. The MEP noted that during the discussion the involving of a US company emerged, which would mean that the American company would acquire and handle the data of tens of millions of European citizens.

Corruption

According to the Fidesz MEP, this is a classic case of corruption: a foreign player, in this case, a huge multinational, pays large sums of money to buy political influence through elected officials. He went on to assert that a sizable corruption network was ‘unfolding before our very eyes’ and expressed his optimism that the Belgian prosecutors would be successful in pursuing their investigation.

Balázs Hidvéghi dismissed a package of proposals which includes measures to combat corruption in the EP such as bribery of MEPs to advance foreign interests as just ‘empty talk.’ According to him, the corruption crisis that has gripped Brussels demonstrates that the institutions are systematically corrupt, that they are susceptible to being bought off, and that this corruption extends to the European Parliament, the European Commission, and other key players. This is also demonstrated by the deceptive attacks that have been launched for years against specific leaders, nations, and political parties that reject Brussels’ way of life.

The Hungarian System

Balázs Hidvéghi also discussed the Hungarian asset declaration system, which has long been criticised for being too lax. ‘We were asked to re-introduce the old after we had introduced the European Parliament’s own model, which we did’, he recalled, adding that in light of this, ‘we can wholeheartedly recommend’ to the MEPs that the European Parliament as a whole switch to the Hungarian asset declaration system, which sets forth requirements that are stricter, more consistent, and more in-depth than the ones than those in force in the EP.

In the interview Balázs Hidvéghi cited Spain as an example where a Socialist administration is in power and ‘very serious’ constitutional and rule of law issues have arisen that have an impact on their judiciary. However, no EU funding has been withheld from Spain, he pointed out. The politician emphasised that this is ‘a classic example of double standards,’ adding that everyone should be subject to the same rules, including Spain’s Socialist government.