The public display of Trump's "dirty underwear" is a source of entertainment for all who oppose him. But also a…
A Day in and about Brussels
The day of yesterday a lot of remarkable things for Hungary were related to Brussels. A NATO summit, the EU council seating, some clear words in the European Parliament, a decision there and of course money from Brussels.
We should be used to the fact that Orbán always has 2 messages. One he uses at home and another he has abroad. At home the powerful man who has everything under control and abroad he looks like the little coward he is. Since Putin began war against Ukraine the regime announces loud to the Hungarian public that the Hungarian army is competent in defending Hungary alone, Orbán said that NATO or EU can’t be relied on. He doesn’t want troops of the former and doesn’t get help from the latter. Yesterday Orbán sent his foreign minister to spread this message before the NATO seating started. Szijjártó said ►HU: “One of the duties of the Hungarian government is to protect Hungary, the security of the Hungarian people, and we can solve this with the Hungarian army at the moment.” Obviously this was a very short moment only. Hours later NATO announced that they decided to send additional combat units to several member states in Eastern Europe, among them Hungary ►HU.
Since some time already Unity for Hungary uses the message that only they will succeed to release the money already frozen by EU and expected to be frozen according the rule of law mechanism regarding the just lost trial of Orbán against the EU. And Orbán demanded the loans from the EU he earlier refused, as discussed at this place the day before yesterday. Now the regime started another propaganda message: EU has released our money. “The letter of the Prime Minister reached its goal, Hungary will receive an advance from an EU reconstruction fund,” Magyar Nemzet touted out. “The lie of the left has failed: more EU money is coming to Hungary,” Origo misinformed the readers.
No! The RRF rules remain unchanged, including the demand to ensure the proper use of funds, which is the key point Orbán does not want to fulfil. The first step to get this money is sending a plan how to use the funds to the EU commission. Orbán sent one, which was refused. So he sent another, again without the demanded securities against theft, which was refused again. We might remember that there was a deadline in October last year and we all were curious what Orbán would do. He did not send an appropriate 3rd plan. Since a couple of countries had no granted plan, the Netherlands for example didn’t make none by the way, Poland and Bulgaria had the same problems as Hungary, so the deadline was scrapped, the EU has no need to push the members to take their money early. The letter Orbán wrote only can be regarded as an announcement and as begging for a friendly approach. Neither the EU nor the Hungarian government claim that Hungary has already made a new plan. The commission has nothing to approve – or refuse. After approval the council (the heads of states and governments) has to vote about. Yesterday and today seating of the council take place, but there is no Hungarian plan on their agenda.
So RRF, regardless whether we talk about the credit facility, Orbán now wants to participate in, or the grants, which plan has been refused twice, wont change the slightest bit. As well as there are no changes regarding the funding from the 2021 – 2027 budget and the connected rule of law mechanism. Orbán is not willing to remove the obstacles he has built earlier.
After this blatant lie of the regime has been uncovered remains the question ►HU: What happened instead? Nothing yet. But there is a proposal. A proposal to release funds from earlier programs remaining from the budget period that ended in 2020 available under easier conditions to those countries that are helping Ukrainian refugees. These funds are thought to be used by the member states until the end of 2023 anyway, the Hungarian share in this was already determined long before. If all countries agree on this Hungary could indeed get a payment of 300 million Euro within weeks. No plan approval by the commission, no voting about the plan in the council, just all countries need to agree with this approach. Fun fact: Hungary did not yet! Although no small amount it is hardly worth mentioning compared to the RRF grants and loans. Obviously the regime thinks we would have lost the count between millions and billions.
How much the regime lies about EU funding has been proven by the fact checkers of Lakmusz ►HU. Most recently the minister of justice Judit Varga has attacked the EU for not participating financially in border safety, just as Orbán and his ministers do randomly. To make it short: Hungary got in the budget period of 2014 – 2020 not less than 45 billion Forint or 120 million Euro (as today.)
In the meanwhile the European Parliament was active. The representatives had ordered a report about oligarchs being fed by EU funds, which was presented by conservative Finish MEP Petri Sarvamaa (EPP). After it was presented a voting took place, a huge majority voted in favour. This report not only points out where EU funds are used against their intention, but also calls out Orbán by name as being heavily involved in this practice. Sarvamaa reminds to the fact that the Hungarian practice feeding oligarchs is highly criminal, proven by the findings of the European anti-fraud agency OLAF. Here Hungary held the record in the last budgeting period. MEP Daniel Freund (Greens) wants ►HU: “not only the assets of the Russian oligarchs should be frozen, but also the EU funds belonging to the EU’s own oligarchs.”
Today I want to end with what Klára Dobrev (DK) said in the European parliament ►HU (linked is the transcript of the entire debate):
Dear Mr. president! No matter how the aggressors of war are shocking us, we are surprised by their war, the war is never without precedent, we just notice the signs late. War aggressors always start in their own country first. That’s where the repression begins. The independent media disappear, which remains will be used for the party’s propaganda purposes. They are branding NGO activists as agents, they are trying to intimidate opposition politicians, the independent institutions, the courts, the prosecutor’s office, the constitutional court, they are trying to put them under party control and there is state-organised theft, the enrichment of the oligarchs. Yes, I am talking about Putin, but from here I am sending a message to all the illiberal little Putins within Europe that we will never be blind again. That this House, the European Parliament, will never allow again that the rule of law and the democracy will be trampled under their feet. Because if Putin’s war taught us something, the rule of law and democracy are the only things that will protect the peace of the people of Europe.
Maybe he hopes to steal Brussel's cruiser and head out for Atlantis.
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Re Klara’s comment.
Doesn’t this describe the FIDesz activities?
Of course the illiberal little Putins within Europe point onto Orbán and those copying him!
I thought our host Istvan’s post today was good in relationship to the discussion of stationing of NATO combat troops to defend Hungary, it appears it will be a contingent of around 1,000 troops. Which will be composed of United States Army troops, and forces from Croatia, Turkey, Montenegro and Italy.
Currently Hungary has allocated only one Battalion of ground forces to the defense of its border with Ukraine according to what I have read. NATO defines a battalion as “larger than a company, but smaller than a regiment” while “consisting of two or more company-, battery-, or troop-sized units and a headquarters.” The size of a NATO battalion can range from 300 to 1,000. Apparently NATO is sending a 1,000 person Battle group to Hungary and its not impossible that it will in fact in terms of the number of ground combat soldiers be larger than the contribution of Hungary to its own border defense.
Minister of Defense Benkő also gave a press conference at the NATO summit. Magyar Nemzet in its report on Benkő’s press conference it indicates that he used in particular this phrase for the reason NATO troops were coming “orosz fenyegetettségre” (the Russian threat). Orban never spoke of a Russian threat on the Hungarian border nor has Szijjártó.
We should pause and think about the Russian threat to Hungary, Orban argues that by not allowing weapons and munitions to be shipped into Ukraine he is keeping Hungary out of the war. But even by doing this there is still apparently a Russian threat of invasion or at least incursion into Hungary according to the Defense Minister. The truth seems to be that as is often the case with Orban, he is telling a bullshit tale. Hungary is just at risk as are NATO nations actively sending weapons to Ukraine by the Russian threat.
President Biden visited today with US Army forces in Rzeszow, Poland and my daughter was among them. Apparently my own daughter was part of the team that prepared a briefing for President Biden today, she is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army reserves and a civil affairs specialist. Apparently an official photo was taken of her with the President which she will eventually receive a framed copy of as will the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, New York (she is a member of the tribe as is my wife and her sister).
By the way I have zero official photos with any President of the USA, even though I too served in the Army. Maybe she is more photogenic, below is a photo of her, then a lowly lieutenant, with her mother, my self, and our two Siberian Huskies..
This picture was on twitter today. I hoped to see a picture with your daughter.
We have a family of 14 in our house now. Hungarian speaking Ukrainians from Carpathia. They are analfabetic and have no idea of how big Ukraine is. I don’t believe the people in that area will be threatened by the russians.
But they fled anyway on February 26 by train. Now they are thinking about going back home, because sitting here all day does not make them happy. There are three men, who were working in Budapest at the time. We found work for them for two weeks, so they can continue to earn money. The men are afraid to cross the border, because of the probability that they have to serve in the military.
Have they registered to vote?
No they haven’t.
That’s great that you are willing (and able) to give such practical help
I was looking for her at the pizza lunch Biden had with 82nd airborne, but I did not see her or any Army women at all. Apparently there was a briefing either before or after that lunch on refugees and relocations my daughter was at. My daughter was at Biden’s speech at the G2A Arena but the footage I saw did not show her in the big arena that I could tell. There are women jumpers in the 82nd and have been since 1978 when 1st Lt. Bennis M. Blue had the great honor being the first woman paratrooper in the 82nd.
My daughter is attached to the 82nd for this deployment, really because they asked for her after working with her at the Kabul airport evacuation, but she did earn her Parachutist badge by attending the 3 week Airborne School in Fort Benning, GA when she was a cadet in college as did I many years ago. There was one other woman in her class at Jump school.
I never was thrilled about jumping and got sick once or twice during the decent. My daughter never did a combat jump, she is lucky because when you see tracer rounds going through your canopy at night it’s a helpless feeling. I did only one combat jump with an artillery unit in my career. The good thing about being an officer is you are so obsessed with all of your troops and equipment you don’t worry about yourself much.
My daughter had no problem with motion sickness like her Dad.
My husband, retired F-16 pilot, was not very fond of dangling underneath a parachute either.
So happy to read, that your daughter is so much appreciated! You must be very proud of her!
Is there any reason why we shouldn’t assume that Orbán heeds warnings from Putin and Lukashenko about possible consequenses of a less than neutral stance?
Well based on Putin’s definition of a neutral nation Hungary does not qualify. NATO was defined by Putin as a military alliance aimed at the destruction of the Russian Federation in several stayements. Orban is trying to play games with Putin and as is obvious Putin does not play games smaller nations.
Could well be that he plays a game, but by being an idle cog in the Nato transmission, he serves Putin’s needs for having a “shadow partner” operating inside Nato fairly well.
Exactly my impression! Refusing NATO troops to prevent fighting within Hungary. Our army could easily surrender after doing something for the show and factually NATO countries in the East and South of Hungary would practically be divided from the rest of Europe. Just that regarding the unexpected resistance of Ukraine it is hard to believe that Russia would risk attacks on other countries, especially those who are members of NATO, in near future if and only if Putin wants to avoid a full fledged nuclear war with NATO.
There are over 10,000 US troops in Poland now. Poland is asking that US troops be permanently stationed there, Biden and Congress both Republicans and Democrats support it. In fact I think they wouldn’t be opposed if some of the NATO nukes were placed in Poland. All the old NATO agreements with Russia about permanent stationing of US forces in Poland are now in the trash bin of history. Russia has opened Pandora’s box for itself by this invasion.
Wolfi might know how many German troops are in the Baltic on top of additional US troops and combat aircraft.
This is true, just that Orbán is still playing the same role. And Orbán refusing everything from NATO as long as possible makes it just more suspicious. Looking at the regime messages not Russia forms a threat, but you are the enemy.
Orbán is probably aware of this opportunity to create some loyalty tensions between Ukrainians and Hungarian Ukrainians which could force more Transcarpathians to choose Hungary over Ukraine. Stirring up trouble seems to be his only real talent.
The current situation seems to provide an answer to a few qestions raised by Éva in her June 22 post, last year – It could be that the change of defense leadership was for a transformation of the armed forces, from actual defense to parading propaganda-show, since Nato guarantees the North-Eastern border defense anyway.
Articles about the fraudulent “mail-in” ballots arriving from Serbia.
https://szmsz.press/hirfolyam/boritekolt-botrany-a-levelszavaztatas-illegalitasa/
Election days:
2018.04.08
2022.04.03
Received “mail-in” ballots in the evening of
2018.03.30: 2,880 = 881 dropped off at consulates + 2,070 mailed to the Election Bureau
2022.03.25: 64,757 = 41,374 dropped off at consulates + 23,383 mailed to the Election Bureau
Drop-off consulates:
Romania: Csíkszereda**, Kolozsvár**, Bukarest**
Serbia: Szabadka**, Belgrád*
Ukraine: Beregszász**, Ungvár**, Kijev*
Slovakia: Kassa*, Pozsony*
Slovenia: Lendva*
Croatia: Eszék*
**every day, from 6 AM to 10 PM
*on workdays from 8 AM to 4:30 PM
https://www.valasztas.hu/levelszavazat-atvetele-es-leadasa
Military situation around Kiev, March 25: