Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made veiled comparisons on Sunday between EU institutions and the Soviet troops that attacked Hungary during the 1956 revolution, the Associated Press reported.
Marking the 66th anniversary of that crushed uprising, Orbán suggested that the EU, which has sought to rein in democratic backsliding in Hungary, would end up like the Soviet Union, according to the AP report.
“Let’s not bother with those who shoot at Hungary from the shadows or from the heights of Brussels. They will end up where their predecessors did,” the AP quoted Orbán as saying in a speech in the city of Zalaegerszeg in western Hungary.
Budapest is facing the threat of cuts to EU funding over its democratic record. EU countries are weighing whether to suspend €7.5 billion in EU funds for Hungary over rule-of-law concerns. Several EU governments earlier this month urged the European Commission to conduct “a thorough and updated risk analysis” of the situation in Hungary.
“We were here when the first conquering empire attacked us, and we’ll be here when the last one collapses,” Orbán said on Sunday. “We will bear it when we must, and we will push back when we can. We draw swords when there is a chance, and we resist when long years of oppression come.”
The government in Budapest has proposed reforms that it hopes will assuage the EU’s concerns. The bloc has a deadline of mid-December to decide on financial sanctions against Hungary.
