Hungary’s diplomatic zigzags

On the morning of 9 December, Hungary was the only other EU country to follow the United Kingdom in its outright refusal to back a revision of European treaties. The same afternoon, it was once again associated with the agreement.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán justified his attitude, explaining that "parliament will have to debate Hungary’s participation in the Eurozone member states’ agreement, because it is a matter of national sovereignty".

Népszabadságpoints out that Orbán’s behaviour in Brussels has been prompted by domestic political considerations. On one hand, by forcing the pro-European opposition to support an agreement that will reinforce budgetary discipline, “Orbán wants to share responsibility for austerity measures,” notes the centre-left daily. On the other, the Prime Minister could take advantage of the situation to separate himself from the far right, which supports the government in parliament but is opposed to the agreement.

For its part, right-wing weekly Heti Válaszattacks the government with unusual virulence. “Orbán appears to be repeating the mistakes of previous socialist governments that were judged to be incoherent and incompetent,” writes the magazine, which argues that the government has been discredited by its incoherent behaviour and “can no longer be taken seriously.”