Boka: 2023 ‘year of failures’ for EU

The EU has also failed “to provide substantive assistance to its members in restarting their economies after the crisis and reinforcing the community’s global competitiveness,” Boka said.

The EU has not managed to stop illegal migration and failed to help member states protect the external borders, Boka said, adding that “Brussels abandoned European farmers and took sides with Ukrainian oligarchs.”

“Brussels has done nothing to fight corruption and conflicts of interest within the EU institutions, but it uses (restriction of) access to community funding to exert direct political pressure,” the minister said.

But, Boka said referring to the upcoming European parliamentary elections, 2024 “could be a year for change.”

The community calls for change “to make Brussels support peace rather than war, to focus on connectivity and competitiveness instead of economic isolation and unreasonable central planning,” Boka said. He also suggested the EU should “only allow those to enter that have an authorisation, and ensure fair conditions for European farmers as well as sovereignty to the EU in terms of food supplies.” “Access to EU funds should not be a tool to exert political pressure,” he added.

Boka said the upcoming Hungarian EU presidency would work to promote those goals.