I know it’s considered a taboo break, but someone doesn’t have to write this word down just as a deterrent: Huxit. Following the example of Brexit, this refers to Hungary’s voluntary, sovereign withdrawal from the EU.
Especially after the violent Western attacks in connection with our child protection law, we should finally begin to think about the question of whether we need a Huxit.
Crossroads reached
I’m not saying we’d need it. In July 2021, however, it will be time to give some serious thought to our possible exit from the EU. The international community is bleeding from a thousand wounds, shows more and more imperial symptoms and is increasingly condescending and arrogant towards the Eastern and Central European states. We have reached a crossroads.
The globalist financial elite and the EU institutions they lead, i.e. the EU Commission, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice and, in parts, the Council of Europe are determined to teach us a lesson. Even more: you want to punish us. They want to saw on our lifeblood when we don’t do what they tell us to do.
Your ultima ratio is the withdrawal of the EU funds we are entitled to. Katarina Barley, a vice-president of the commission, made no secret of it – along with George Soros and his supporters – when she declared that one had to starve out unruly countries like Hungary and Poland financially.
So what speaks in favor of remaining in the Union and what speaks against it? It makes sense to examine this question from a political, economic, cultural, value-based, and military perspective.
What are the advantages of remaining in the Union?
From a political perspective, the fact that EU membership gives every Hungarian citizen the good feeling of being a member of a developed, democratic West based on the community of free nations, for which we have always longed and for which we have always longed, speaks in favor of staying 40 years of communism finally believed they had reached their goal. It is an uplifting feeling to be part of one of the most modern communities in the world. Saying goodbye to this feeling after a good 15 years is only acceptable in the face of very strong and emphatic reasons.
Are there any such reasons at the moment? Clearly: there is! Namely the fact that the adored community of states has meanwhile fundamentally changed its priorities. The globalist, liberal elites want to transform the Union into a completely different entity than it was before.
A decade and a half ago we joined a community of free and sovereign states. Now, in turn, a super-federal, imperial Europe subordinating itself to the nation states is emerging at high pressure. The United States of Europe are to be created.
It was our most important goal and our hope that we can continue on our way as a sovereign, independent nation after the Soviet tyranny. But that is exactly what is in danger. If someone starts to dictate what to do again, EU membership will lose its value to us.
A one-year series of conferences and discussions on the future of the Union has just started. It is already clear, however, that mainstream circles are putting the realization of the above-mentioned goal at the center of the discussions. Not to mention the built-in safeguards, according to which the EU institutions leading this series of discussions can moderate the discussion and simply ignore opinions that they do not like.
It is a shockingly clear signal that the coordinating body of the discussion series is being led by Guy Verhofstadt, who is a staunch, deluded globalist and Orbán hater. The so-called Spinelli group – named after an Italian arch-communist – that emerged from the discussion has openly set itself the goal of creating the United States of Europe.
Of course, we have to make every effort to take part in this discussion. However, if the end result is unacceptable to us, then it is not certain whether it is Hungary’s interest to continue bowing to imperial and globalist aspirations.
From an economic point of view, the fact that we are net recipients of EU money speaks in favor of remaining in the Union. Now it is a question of access to the funds of the EU reconstruction fund in the amount of 2.500 billion forints. However, they want to withhold the share due to us.
However, the picture is only complete if we take into account that, parallel to its accession to the EU, Hungary waived considerable customs revenues and the protection of Hungarian companies. We have opened our market to western goods and investors who regularly transfer a not inconsiderable part of their profits to their home countries.
We should also not forget that after the war, Western European countries received huge financial aid under the American Marshall Plan, which helped to flourish their economies. The countries admitted in the 1970s and 80s, ie Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Denmark, still joined a prosperous Union. However, when we joined in 2004 together with nine other countries, the international community was no longer in such a good economic state, which was reflected not least in reduced transfer payments.
Bogus arguments
Perhaps the most serious economic argument against an exit, however, is that Western companies would then turn away from us and economic relations with the West would suffer.
It could allegedly happen that Audi, BMW and Mercedes, for example, would relocate their local factories. That sounds daunting. But could it really come to that? Would we really face a precarious economic situation and would we have to switch to self-sufficiency?
I do not think so. On the one hand, because Western investors are primarily interested in profit. If they can produce cheaply in Hungary, then they will not act against their own interests. Just look at how well Western European companies get along with the Chinese and the Russians. And compared to these two countries, Hungary is now truly more familiar territory for them. EU membership or not, western companies know exactly what they’re up to when they invest in Hungary. Last but not least, they value our predictability.
On the other hand, the countries must of course stand on several legs. We recognized this a few years ago and are acting accordingly. One only needs to think of the opening to the east pushed by the Hungarian government.
Thirdly, it is obvious to me that we, like Norway and Switzerland, and now also Great Britain, would have to start negotiations with the Union and individual member states in parallel with the withdrawal. Following the example of these three countries, we would have to conclude special contracts. To this end, we are already economically strong enough and no longer a country at the mercy of others that cannot stand on its own two feet.
What problems does Norway have because it is not a member of the EU? Not a single one! A possible withdrawal does not have to mean a confrontation, but the renegotiation of relations between the Union and now sovereign states. This is certainly not an easy task, but it is doable. From a military point of view, Hungary’s withdrawal from the EU would be particularly irrelevant because we have been a member of NATO since 1999 and will remain so. Either way, we need to continue to strengthen our defense capabilities, and that is exactly what we are already doing.
And finally, perhaps most importantly, from a cultural, value-oriented point of view, our continued membership would be supported by the fact that our Greek and Roman roots or Christian moral norms would supposedly hold us together. But is that still the case? Clear answer: Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Our paths separate as long as the West consciously breaks with Christian morality and values and instead relies on the unrestrained self-enjoyment of the individual and sets itself the goal of building a cosmopolitan, faceless world society based on self-destruction – see “Great Reset “.
In contrast, we Hungarians, Poles and Central-Eastern Europeans as a whole are attached to our millennia-old cultural and religious foundations. We are attached to our lives! And that’s exactly what puts all other aspects in the shade.At this point I now pause, I will not pronounce the consequence of these trains of thought. Only this much should be mentioned: Fidesz has quite rightly only left the People’s Party after very thorough consideration and a long wait. But he left with his head held high and was not thrown out. That’s a huge difference. This approach is correct. Because if we give in now, then we have lost. It would take away everything we have fought for so far.
The author is a political scientist and works as a consultant at Alapjogokért Központ (Hungarian Institute for Fundamental Rights).
This article appeared on August 15 in the government-affiliated daily MAGYAR NEMZET