Hungarian premier warns the EU against treating applicant nations ‘like children’

Date: 30/07/1998

By Mark Turner

HUNGARY is no longer interested in trading diplomatic niceties with the European Union, according to the country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. It wants to talk about accession, with no frills and no hidden agenda.

“I am not a diplomat, I am a political leader,” Orban told European Voice, after a straight-talking performance before the international press.

Stressing that Budapest did not want to join the EU for ideological reasons, Orban had demanded more money for border control, insisting this was “not only in the interest of Hungary, but the EU as well”, and called for free movement upon accession.

“Becoming a member of the EU means full movement of labour,” he said. “If the EU has any other ideas, let it come to the table and let us know.”

Orban insists that the days of Brussels speaking down to its applicants as if they were infants are over, at least as far as he is concerned.

“Obviously, the EU is stronger, but that does not mean we should give up our dignity and behave like children,” he said, admitting that “the countries who would like to get in” were “at least partly” to blame for the current state of dialogue.

If enlargement to central and eastern Europe was to work, he stressed, both sides needed to drop their pretensions and start speaking plainly.

“The recent visit by Wolfgang Schüssel was a welcome change,” said Orban, referring to the Austrian foreign minister's trip to Hungary this month. “He was straightforward, open and did not skirt around any sensitive issues. I prefer this way of negotiation, when I get presented with a clear position. We can better represent our national interests in this manner.”

In the few weeks since his appointment, Orban has roundly criticised countries like France which purport to support enlargement in public and slow the process down in private. He also dismisses demands for institutional reform within the EU before a first wave of enlargement.

“In Hungary we have a saying: don't paint the devil on the wall,” said Orban. “Many countries raise these issues again and again, saying it is not possible to enlarge without reform. This is contrary to the Amsterdam Treaty, which says enlargement can go ahead if there are no more than five countries.”

Orban also warns that any Europeans who think they can convince Hungary to join the Union on unfavourable terms had better think again.

“We make a clear difference between the EU and Europe,” said Orban. “We are already in Europe. We would like to join the EU, which is an institution. We are determined to defend our interests and to be accepted as full partners.”