Orban claims that the Polish government was installed by the EU

2024-10-26 09:20:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, has suggested that Poland's government and prime minister, Donald Tusk, were installed by the European Union as part of a plot to oust Poland's previous right-wing populist leadership.

Orban offered no evidence for this claim regarding the Polish government, which was elected in 2023 after elections in which 74 percent of voters participated.

The comments come two days after Orban, a nationalist who takes an anti-EU approach, told supporters in a speech that the European bloc is aiming to topple his government and install a puppet regime in Hungary.

Speaking on Hungarian state radio on October 25, Orban criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leader of the EU's largest political group, the European People's Party, Manfred Weber, claiming the two officials are aiming to replace him. His government, just as, according to him, they had acted in Poland in 2023, when the coalition led by Tusk defeated the Law and Justice party - which had previously been in power - in the parliamentary elections.

"This is not even a secret conspiracy against Hungary, but an openly presented plan," Orban said, claiming that there is a conspiracy against him, without providing any evidence for this claim. "The same thing happened in Poland. The Poles also undertook an independent policy regarding migration, gender and the economy."

Von der Leyen and Weber, he said, “did their best and openly announced that the conservative Polish Government must go and be replaced by a new one. Thus, our friend Tusk became prime minister in Poland. The same scenario is now happening in the case of Hungary".

Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski, in a response to The Associated Press, said:

"Free parliamentary elections were held in Poland on October 15, 2023. The current government in Poland, like previous governments, was not installed, but elected and is an expression of the will of the Polish voters."

Orban has often clashed with the EU, as Brussels has blocked billions of euros worth of financial aid over accusations that he violated democratic standards and the rule of law. The previous Polish nationalist-conservative government had also had disagreements with the EU regarding the level of democracy for years.

Orban has increasingly taken a more aggressive approach to the European bloc, which Hungary joined in 2004. The Hungarian leader has rallied Eurosceptic parties across the bloc and created a right-wing political force in the European Parliament. It has also brought Hungary closer to autocratic states such as Russia and China.

Tusk's government is seeking to restore democratic institutions, which it says were disintegrated during the previous executive. However, his executive still maintains some conservative policies, such as the tough attitude towards illegal immigration./ Rel