Bóka: Unfolding political struggle between sovereigntists and federalists will define coming decades
Minister Bóka told a panel discussion at the 34th Balvanyos Summer Open University and Student Camp in Băile Tușnad (Tusnadfurdo) that one of the most significant dividing lines between European party families is whether they consider themselves federalists or sovereigntists, emphasising that European institutions and European policy were in need of change.
Minister Bóka said this key difference between political groupings also impacted the division of powers and how the EU's institutional system functioned.
'This struggle between two political wings is just starting to unfold, and it will define the coming decades,' he said, adding that the political discourse would also shift in this direction.
Minister Bóka said Europeans were unsure about what to do in order to bring about change in the EU.
He said there appeared to be no limit to the number of national governments that could fail because of the migration crisis without it triggering a change in the EU's migration policy. The minister said this raised the questions as to whether European citizens still had a role in shaping politics, whether European democracy still existed and whether sovereignty still mattered.
Minister Bóka said an EU member state should have the chance to shape certain policies if they did not work at the European level. 'This is exactly what Hungary is doing regarding migration, for which it has to pay a serious monetary and political price,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Budapest Times
19 hours ago
- Budapest Times
FM: US-EU tariffs deal evidence for needed leadership change in Brussels
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in a post on social media on Monday that the tariff deal between the European Union and the United States reached over the weekend provided further evidence that an urgent leadership change in Brussels is needed, as the deal could have happened earlier. 'The von der Leyen-led Commission has caused serious damage to the European economy in recent years, compounded by its struggles in tariff matters,' Minister Szijjártó said. 'The European Commission should have reduced the four-fold tariffs on the United States in January, and then another serious blow to the European economy could have been avoided,' he added.
Budapest Times
19 hours ago
- Budapest Times
PM pushes for intensifying bilateral cooperation between Hungary and China
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with Zhao Leji, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, in his office on Sunday. The talks focused on the status of Hungarian-Chinese economic ties and possibilities for intensifying bilateral cooperation. Meanwhile, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary is gaining handsomely from economic ties with China which serve as a prime example of civilised cooperation between Eastern and Western companies. Hungary is in a constant competition with western European countries for Chinese investments, Minister Szijjártó said at the Budapest reception of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress. 'So far we have proven adept in this fight,' he said, mentioning that one third of Chinese investments in Europe were made in Hungary last year, while four of the five largest Chinese corporate investments in Europe were under way here. The projects helped Hungary to stay at the cutting edge of the world technological revolution, he added. Chinese investments, he said, had added thousands of new jobs in recent years, were in the technological vanguard, and contributed to one export record after another. Also, no other central European city, including Vienna, 'has so many air connections with major Chinese cities', Minister Szijjártó said, noting that 21 flights connect Budapest to big Chinese cities each week. Hopefully business around the world would be carried out in a calm and fair way in the future, and the world would not again fall into blocs, the minister said.
Budapest Times
19 hours ago
- Budapest Times
Orbán: US President has eaten EC leader for breakfast
On Monday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said about the EU-US trade deal that it was not an agreement but US President Donald Trump had 'eaten the European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen for breakfast'. PM Orbán told an online broadcast dubbed Fight Hour that he had expected this outcome in advance, considering that the US President was 'heavyweight' as against the EC President being 'lightweight'. The US President's position was much more confident, while the EC President's position was always more fragile, he added. The US has recently struck a similar deal with the UK, which was 'much better than this', PM Orbán said. He added that since the European deal was 'much worse' than the UK deal, it would be difficult to present it in the future as a success. PM Orbán said the problem was that, in line with the agreement, Europeans would invest several hundred million euros in the US. 'But who will?', PM Orbán asked, adding that the EC had no capital to invest. 'In whose name did she agree? Will the German Chancellor take the money there, the French President, or the Hungarian PM will send the capital?', he asked. He said that 'we are supposedly going to buy weapons, to a value of several hundred billion euros'. 'But who will? The Commission has no army,' PM Orbán added.
