Reception in Vienna
Hungarian President Sulyok visited Van der Bellen
Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok visited Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna on Wednesday. "I trust that Hungary will make an important contribution to preserving and promoting European unity during its (EU) Council Presidency," Van der Bellen wrote on Platform X. Sulyok was received in the Vienna Hofburg with military honors, a press conference did not take place.
"Szeretettel üdvözlöm önöket! Welcome!", Van der Bellen greeted Sulyok on Platform X in both languages. He also posted a short video showing both presidents with their wives at the military reception and on the premises of the Hofburg.
"Historical connection between the two countries"
For his part, Sulyok emphasized on X and Facebook the centuries-long historical connection between the two countries, which "can be felt at every turn in Hungary". In his Hungarian-language Facebook post, he also quoted the son of Emperor Otto Habsburg, "a member of a renowned family in our history", with a sentence from his 1952 "Concept of Europe": "What separates us Europeans is much more meaningless than what unites us."
The two heads of state spoke at length about Hungary's current presidency of the EU Council, EU enlargement, the Western Balkans and the international situation in light of the war in Ukraine, for example. They also discussed economic issues such as the special Hungarian tax on foreign retailers, which Austria criticizes as discriminatory, according to a statement from the presidential chancellery in response to an APA inquiry. The mood was probably good: The two presidents congratulated each other on the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Ferenc Krausz last year. The scientist, who was born and raised in Hungary, also has Austrian citizenship, but has been working in Germany for many years. He has declared himself as Hungarian to the Nobel Prize Committee.
Ukraine was also a topic
Sulyok also met National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) in the afternoon during his stay in Vienna. Sobotka welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's trip to Ukraine and asked Sulyok about Hungary's position on the Russian war of aggression. Sulyok emphasized that the role of Russia as the aggressor in this conflict had been clear to Hungary from the outset. It is important to continue to support Ukraine in this situation, emphasized Sobotka. It must be made clear that aggressors cannot simply move borders. Sulyok also addressed what he saw as the inadequate protection of Hungarian minorities in Ukraine.
After the talks, Sulyok laid a memorial wreath at the monument to the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis at the Medical University of Vienna. In the evening, a meeting with representatives of the Hungarian community in Austria was on the agenda.
orban constitutional lawyer as president
The 68-year-old Sulyok was only inaugurated as President at the beginning of March. The lawyer and constitutional lawyer had previously been President of the Constitutional Court. He succeeded Katalin Novák as head of state, who had to resign in February due to the pardon of the accomplice of an abuser. Sulyok's first trip abroad as President took him to Poland in March. Sulyok has long-standing friendly relations with Austria; between 2000 and 2014 he was Austria's honorary consul in the southern Hungarian city of Szeged.
In May, the Hungarian opposition party Democratic Coalition (DK) presented documents accusing Sulyok of illegally passing on land in Hungary to Austrian buyers in the early 2000s as a lawyer by means of so-called pocket contracts. At the time, the sale of Hungarian land to non-Hungarians was prohibited. This regulation continued to apply for a transitional period after Hungary joined the EU in 2004 and only expired in 2014. Sulyok's office rejected the allegations and the public prosecutor's office refused to open an investigation. DK was also unable to push through impeachment proceedings due to the ruling Fidesz party's two-thirds majority in parliament.
EU Council presidency this semester
Hungary holds the presidency of the EU Council this semester. The right-wing nationalist Hungarian government's motto is "Make Europe Great Again", a modified campaign slogan of the controversial former American president Donald Trump. While experts expect a professional handling at civil servant level, the long-standing blockade policy and the political preferences of Prime Minister Orbán are likely to shape the focus of the next six months. Last Sunday in Vienna, Orbán, together with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl and Czech ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš, whose ANO party recently left the European Liberals, announced the formation of a new right-wing group in the EU Parliament. Orbán's right-wing nationalist party Fidesz left the European People's Party (EPP) and its parliamentary group in 2021 and has been non-attached at European level ever since.
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