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20 years with the EU: no central celebration in Hungary

(Bild: APA/ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP)

On May 1, 2024, the European Union will celebrate 20 years of eastward enlargement. With Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, it was the largest expansion of the bloc of states in terms of numbers. However, Hungary is by no means in a celebratory mood these days.

In the current EU election campaign, the right-wing nationalist head of government Viktor Orbán is once again focusing on resentment against "Brussels". According to Orbán, the leadership of the Union "does not deserve another chance". He called for a "change of power" in Brussels, which "must be occupied" in order to bring about change. This primarily concerns billions in EU funding for Hungary, which is being withheld due to a lack of rule of law and corruption. 

Viktor Orbán's government has repeatedly put up posters against the EU and does not want to "dance to its tune", as can be read here alongside photos of the son of US billionaire George Soros and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.(Bild: APA/AFP/ATTILA KISBENEDEK)

Twenty years ago, accession, for which 84 percent of Hungarian voters had voted at the time, was celebrated in style. In Budapest, a giant hourglass was set in motion at midnight as a "symbol of a new era", as the APA wrote 20 years ago. In the years that followed, however, the euphoria gave way to increasingly massive confrontation with Brussels, especially since Orbán's right-wing nationalist party Fidesz came to power in 2010.

Hungary takes over the EU presidency on July 1
In 2014, Parliament President László Kövér ensured that the EU flag no longer flies on the parliament building in Budapest as, according to Kövér, there is no legal obligation to do so. Against the backdrop of ongoing disputes with Brussels, Hungary will take over the EU presidency on July 1. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, 77 percent of Hungarians believe that EU membership has benefited Hungary.