In the ORF television “press hour” on Sunday, he did not expect these parties to receive a majority. At the same time, however, he warned that in this case the “progress we have made in Europe” would be called into question.
Weber named the conditions for cooperation between his Christian-Democratic-conservative party family: “Pro Europe, pro Ukraine, pro constitutional state.” In the case of parties like the AfD, Marine Le Pen’s party in France or the FPÖ, he does not see this as the case.
With regard to the Freedom Party, the EPP leader said: “Anyone who treats (Russian President Vladimir) Putin the same as (Ukrainian President Voldymyr) Zelensky is outside our community of values.” In his opinion, the FPÖ does this. That’s why FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl, when he was interior minister, was received with reservations among his EU counterparts – they had the impression that everything that was said in the Council of Interior Ministers would be passed on to Moscow.
According to Weber, the EPP members will once more nominate a common top candidate this time, who will also become President of the EU Commission if he wins the election. Weber was the top candidate in 2019, but he did not become Commission President. The question was once once more agreed upon retrospectively by the heads of state and government – ignoring the intentions before the election.
After the European elections, Weber would like to see “more majority decisions” at the European level. The German CSU politician expects this to strengthen EU foreign policy and the defense community. Because of the unanimity currently required, Weber resolutions in these two areas take too long.
In the “press hour” the 51-year-old advocated an upgrade at the European defense level once morest the background of a threat from Russia. “Russia is arming itself. Putin is challenging us.” The hybrid war once morest Russia is already here, warned Weber, citing Russian election interference in social networks or Moscow-directed refugee flows across the border into Finland and thus into the EU.
As far as EU expansion is concerned – for example to include the Western Balkan states – the EPP chairman wants to focus on the “economic and political potential” for all those involved. At the same time, however, the final borders of the EU must be determined. “We have to start the accession negotiations with the “End Turkey,” demanded Weber in this context. “Everyone knows that nothing will happen with Turkey.” Instead, Weber wants to strengthen EU-Turkey relations in other ways.
Weber does not believe that Hungary’s EU Council Presidency, which is criticized by most EU governments and EU institutions because of its constitutional deficits and the government under Viktor Orbán, which is particularly critical of the EU, can be avoided. The MEP therefore expects a “difficult time” for the second half of 2024. The consolation for Weber is that the focus following the EU elections in June will not be on legislative processes that the Hungarian Presidency has to manage, but on things like new positions or the realignment of politics.
Weber criticized the fact that Hungary is blocking the decision on the EU financial framework and does not want to agree until EU funds for the country, which were withheld because of the rule of law deficits in Hungary, are released. However, there should be no horse-trading on the issue; Hungary must deliver and make the laws EU-compliant. You shouldn’t let Orbán dance on your nose.
Weber indirectly criticized Austria’s veto once morest the full inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area. The Bavarian emphasized that the two countries are “fit” for this. “The arguments of the Bulgarians and Romanians should have been taken more constructively.”
Reactions from the FPÖ, SPÖ and the Greens
The head of the FPÖ delegation in the European Parliament, Harald Vilimsky, sees Weber’s statements as a “worst form of polemic.” In a reaction via broadcast, Vilimsky asked whether Weber had received a platform exclusively from ORF or whether a member of the Identity and Democracy (ID) faction, to which the FPÖ MEPs belong, would also be invited to the “press hour”. .
In his reaction, SPÖ delegation leader Andreas Schieder questioned the EPP’s claim, as emphasized by Weber, to be the leading pro-European political force in the EU Parliament. The European People’s Party itself has moved to the right and torpedoed important reform projects.
The Greens also see the EPP and Weber actually in league with the extreme right. “While he talks a lot regarding the ‘election regarding fundamentals’ in the press session and distances himself from the European right-wing extremists, the EPP, under his leadership in the European Parliament, has been joining precisely these right-wing extremist forces for months,” commented Green MEP Thomas Waitz .
