Over the past five years, Oliver Várhelyi has often been criticized for breaking ranks with the Commission and aligning himself with the Orbán Government
Viktor Orbán is elected as Olivér Várhelyi como Hungarian candidate for commissioner European, despite the Várhelyi’s controversial career in his five years in Brussels. The first Minister announced the news on Monday following what he described as a “recent consultation” with Ursula von der Leyen, who at the beginning of the month was re-elected President of the European Commission with a larger majority than expected.
von der Leyen’s next step will be create its new College of Commissionerscomposed of the candidates proposed by each Member State. The president has the exclusive prerogative of assign political portfolios and design the hierarchical structure of the executive.
The capitals have until August 30to communicate your chosen onesalthough many have already proposed a name, without worrying about the man-woman duo demanded by von der Leyen. In the case of Hungary, the chosen one is the incumbent, Olivér Várhelyi, current Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement.
“During the last five years, Commissioner Várhelyi has shown that the EU can set the difference as a positive force in its vicinity and beyond. He will do an excellent job in the next Commission.” Orbán wrote on social media.
A dubious appointment
In reaction to the newsVárhelyi said it was an “immense honor to be nominated” and that he was “looking forward to continuing our common work with President von der Leyen“. But it remains very doubtful that it will be given a second chance to this 52-year-old man.
His appointment depends on a hearing of confirmation in the European Parliamentwhere he has been the target of relentless criticism for break ranks with the official line of the Commission and continue an aligned agenda with the Orbán government.
With few chances of being confirmedthe appointment will fuel speculation that Orbán is keeping his real candidate as plan B, once the Várhelyi’s candidacy be discarded by MEPs.
In 2019, Hungary’s first candidate, László Trócsányi, was rejected due to alleged conflict of interests, which led to the emergence of Várhelyi as a replacement. At that time, Orbán’s Fidesz party He belonged to the European People’s Party (EPP), center-right. Today, however, he is part of the far-right party Patriots for Europe, around which centrist parties have built a sanitary cordon.
The checkered history of his mandate
He Várhelyi’s mandate in Brussels has been tarnished by a series of controversies, which will re-emerge when it faces scrutiny by the European Parliament. His checkered history includes:
January 2023: Parliament calls for an “independent and impartial investigation” to determine whether Várhelyi has breached the Commission code of conduct. The MEPs accuseto the senior official to downplay the decline of the rule of law in Serbia and to support the separatist actions of Milorad Dodik in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Várhelyi calls the accusations “fake news” and defends his work.
February 2023: during a parliamentary debate on the Balkans Westerners, Várhelyi is caught with a hot microphone asking “How many idiots are there still?” The moment goes viral on social networks and provokes a furious reaction from MEPs, who demand his resignation. Várhelyi apologizes and says the comment was “related to a private and ongoing conversation” with his chief of staff and “taken out of context.”
October 2023: Immediately after the Hamas attacks against Israel, Várhelyi suddenly announces that “all payments” to the Palestinian authorities will be “immediately suspended.” The declaration makes international headlines and triggers a violent reaction in some Member States. When asked, the Commission clarifies that Várhely acted without von der Leyen’s blessing or prior consultation.
May 2024: Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accuses an anonymous commissioner of “blackmail” for its controversial “foreign agents” law. during a phone call, the commissioner referred to the attempted murder of the Slovak Robert Fico, which Kobakhidze considered an “extremely worrying” threat. It’s a statement , Várhelyi states that the conversation was distorted and that he used Fico’s case to talk about the dangers of a “high level of polarization” in general.
May 2024: Várhelyi travels to Israel in an official capacity and meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The meeting takes place just days after the attorney general of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, among others, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Both are accused of using hunger among the civilian population as a method of war in the Gaza Strip.
