Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán says the massive corruption scandal in the European Union should be used as an opportunity to “drain the swamp” in Brussels.
An ongoing corruption scandal at the heart of the European Union has seen a Vice President of the European Parliament arrested, among others, and the offices of two human rights organisations shuttered, as Belgian law enforcement probe officials possibly being paid off as part of an influence operation by the sharia-governed State of Qatar, which is hosting the still-ongoing World Cup.
Evidence pictures shared with the Associated Press by Belgium’s Federal Judicial Police show literal briefcases filled with cash — “a portion of the 1.5 million euro dollars found and seized by Belgian police in Brussels,” according to the news agency.
“This EU summit has been marked by the arrest, on corruption charges, of the left-wing vice-president of the European Parliament. Everyone knew that Brussels was full of corruption, but now it’s reached the stage at which the police have had to take action,” commented Prime Minister Orbán, in the EU power centre himself for an end-of-the-year European Council meeting, in comments shared on Facebook, an official translation of which has been seen by Breitbart London.
“The corruption scandal has rocked the European institutions, with house searches ongoing, millions of euros seized by the police, and speculation about which other Brussels politicians could be involved,” the Hungarian leader continued.
“Many believe that the trail could lead to those at the highest levels,” he added.
Orbán said that his government was pushing for an “in-depth and wide-ranging investigation into the corruption scandal in Brussels”, echoing longtime ally Donald Trump by adding that it was “time to drain the swamp here in Brussels.”
A staunch eurosceptic — although not a supporter of a ‘Hungarian Brexit’, dubbed ‘Hungaleave’ by some — Orbán has more reason than most to take a certain satisfaction from the scandal, with the EU establishment consistently interfering with domestic policies such as a ‘Stop Soros’ law designed to make NGOs be more transparent about foreign funding and a move to ban the promotion of transgenderism in schools, and currently holding up Hungary’s full share of EU funding.
This is ostensibly a result of EU concerns over “the rule of law” in Hungary, although many believe it is in fact payback for Hungary’s reluctance to sign off escalations of the current sanctions war with Russia, which Orbán regards as economic self-harm, and refusal to implement EU migrant redistribution quotas — an issue which has also seen Poland get into hot water.
Indeed, taking the EU’s criticism of Hungary into account, Prime Minister Orbán’s initial reaction to the corruption arrests in Brussels was a provocative tweet reading “Good morning to the European Parliament!” accompanied by an old school meme of a roomful of men laughing uproariously, with the caption: “And then they said the [European Parliament] is seriously concerned about corruption in Hungary”.