Weber to Hungarian state TV: You know better than me that young people chanted “Russia out!” on election night

“Let me start with a very positive development,” Manfred Weber said at the beginning of his press conference on Tuesday. At his customary press conference during the European Parliament's plenary session, the leader and president of the center-right European People's Party first commented on the Hungarian election, in which the Tisza Party secured a more than two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Weber described what happened in Hungary as "very, very good". The investment of trust the EPP made two years ago has paid off massively—he said, referring to the agreement reached after the 2024 EP elections, under which the Tisza Party joined the EPP group. He described the past two years' of cooperation as positive (despite the fact that Tisza representatives were recently stripped of their floor time in plenary sessions as punishment for not participating in the no-confidence vote against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen). In his view, the result proves that populists are not delivering results.

The new government wants change, particularly in the area of the rule of law, so the EP should take steps to stop the Article 7 procedure it had initiated— he said, referring to the process launched in 2018 that has not moved forward since then. He believed there was no time to waste and that the incoming government should be given a vote of confidence. He reiterated this in response to a question from Hungarian state media, stressing that

everyone saw the reports from election night in Budapest, with young people holding EU flags in their hands while chanting “Russians go home”, and “We are Europeans”.

In response to a question from Hír TV about migration and Ukraine, he stated: there is no question that we all want to stop illegal migration. This has been drastically reduced—by 80 percent in the Western Balkans—which he attributed to the asylum package, which will only be fully implemented this summer. He added that the missing element of the package, the Return Regulation, still needs to be adopted. As for Ukraine, he noted that the Orbán government had "given its blessing" on the 90 billion euro loan.

As co-chair of the third-smallest faction, the Greens, Terry Reintke called it very good news for Europe and the world that Orbán would no longer be at the table. She saw this as a window of opportunity to act, for example, in support of the rule of law. Reintke had already responded by shaking her head to Politico’s question on Weber’s comments regarding the Article 7 procedure (the EP’s rapporteur on the procedure, Tineke Strik, is a Green MEP).

“I think we’re all very happy” that Viktor Orbán’s regime is over and has been replaced by a constructive player, but it’s not in the Hungarians’ interest to give the new government a blank check either.

There are “plans involving millions of euros” waiting for the money in Budapest as well, and with a two-thirds majority, the new government can accomplish a great deal. Co-chair Bas Eickhout emphasized that the Article 7 procedure is not political, which is why they are surprised to see the comments; as the expectations are clear. In response to a question from Telex, Eickhout emphasized that the super milestones (which play a direct role in the availability of the recovery fund and not in the Article 7 procedure) do not include requirements related to the electoral system; it is up to Magyar to decide how it governs the country. Reintke added that there is a very strong focus on anti-corruption; which is what the super milestones are all about.

The government needs to deliver on many things, and they are ready to support this transition; this will be a multi-step process which will take time, noted Iratxe García Pérez, chair of the second-largest socialist group, suggesting that a quick conclusion to the Article 7 procedure should not necessarily be expected.

"The members of Tisza are pretending to be a right wing movement," said Patryk Jaki, co-chair of the conservative-Eurosceptic ECR group, in response to a question from Telex about whether the Hungarian election results held any significance for their group. In his view, this result shows that European trends are shifting, with issues like migration gaining greater recognition, which is why Magyar also supported this—which is “good news.” On the subject of the Russian and Hungarian governments’ coordinated efforts revealed during the election campaign, he stated: their group’s position has been clear from the beginning—“we are against Putin and his policies”—even when everyone else is urging the restoration of relations with them. The group’s other leader, Nicola Procaccini, also pointed out that Spain is the main buyer of Russian gas, so he considers that country to be the main sponsor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The leader of the Liberals, Valérie Hayer, welcomed the results of the Hungarian election. She believes that Péter Magyar’s victory and the ousting of the “Orbán regime” sent a positive and constructive signal to the EU. The majority he received has given him a strong mandate to move quickly on the necessary reforms, she said.

Martin Schirdewan, co-chair of the far-left GUE/NGL group, views the Hungarian election as a referendum on authoritarianism, and he believes that Maja T., who was arrested in connection with the attacks on Breakout Day, should be sent back to Germany.

Although Jordan Bardella, the president of the Patriots for Europe faction, which Fidesz is a member of, typically also holds a press conference with Kinga Gál, the faction’s first vice-president, for now, no such event has been scheduled for the usual time on Tuesday.