Central and Eastern European leaders who do not follow the tide: the EU's "non-mainstream" Orban China's "hardcore friend" Vucic

Source: Global Times

The most frustrating thing this week for the US And Western camps was the re-election of two European political leaders who are considered to have "close ties with Moscow and Beijing": Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán Victor and Serbian President Alexander Vucic. Their victory challenged the "solidarity" and "shared values" that Europe was eager to proclaim to the world, while also continuing the traditional friendship that Central and Eastern European countries had forged with China as early as the Cold War.

He has repeatedly exercised his "one-vote veto" to abort the EU's attempts to interfere in China's internal affairs, and his government said on Wednesday that it would pay Russia for gas in rubles – he is The President of Hungary's Youth Democratic Union (Young Democrats Union) and Prime Minister Orbán Victor.

Retaliated for his "pro-Russian stance."

In the quadrennial Hungarian parliamentary elections unveiled this week, Orbán's campaign alliance of the Youth Democratic League and the CDU won a 2/3 majority in parliament for the fourth consecutive time, meaning Orbán won a fifth term as chancellor, and he is about to surpass former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Orban's re-election has been criticized by some media in Europe and the United States. On April 8, Reuters classified Hungary as "the only country in the European Union with a 'partial freedom' comparable to Ukraine, Tunisia and India". And Orbán mocked the EU in his victory speech: "The advantage [in our election] is so obvious that it can be seen on the moon, not to mention Brussels." ”

Orbán has been accused by the EU of being a "Putin ally" for his "pro-Russian stance." He opposed sanctions against Russia over the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict: "Sanctions, punishments, preaching, or other forms of arrogance against the great powers are all wrong. On March 31, Orbán voted against it in Brussels, rejecting the EU's initiative to "respond in a unified manner" to Russia's settlement of gas in rubles. He said the importance of Russian energy to Hungary "is not a matter of adding a sweater at night, using less heating or paying more for gas." He reiterated that Hungary would not ship weapons to Ukraine and that Hungary "could not help Ukraine through self-destruction."

The European Union announced on April 5 that it would launch a new mechanism to restrict Hungary's access to EU funds, which was seen by the media as a "revenge" for Orbán's re-election.

He was a contracted football player

Born on May 31, 1963 in the western Hungarian city of Székšşbń, Orbán served two years of military service after graduating from secondary school in 1981, before studying at the Faculty of State and Law at the University of Roland, where he wrote about the Solidarity movement in Poland. Orbán has been an avid footballer since childhood, as a young man as a contracted footballer for his hometown club team and is now a super fan, having travelled to the World Cup or Champions League final many times.

As early as secondary school, Orban served as secretary general of the Hungarian Communist Youth League. In March 1988, Orbán and his political partners founded the Youth Democratic League. In June 1989, during the ceremony to re-bury former Hungarian Prime Minister Najiy Imre, Orban rose to fame by calling for free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary.

In the 1994 parliamentary elections, the Youth Democratic League entered parliament for the first time with the minimum number of votes. In 1998, the Youth Democratic League became the party with the most seats in parliament, and Orbán became Hungary's prime minister for the first time at the age of 35. During his first prime ministerial term, Hungary joined NATO along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Orbán lost the 2002 general election and has been prime minister again since May 2010. Orban emphasizes his love of family and anti-immigrant stance, often posting photos with his wife, children and grandchildren on personal social platforms.

Three times vetoed the EU's Hong Kong-related statements

In 2010, Orbán announced the implementation of the "opening up to the east" policy and actively carried out pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation with eastern countries, including China. Hungary became the first country in Europe to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China in 2015. Today, Hungary has become the country with the largest Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe. When the epidemic in Europe was severe in early 2021, Hungary introduced a large number of Chinese vaccines, becoming the only EU country to use Chinese vaccines, and Hungary was also the first EU country to approve the Russian "satellite V" vaccine.

In April, May and June 2021, the EUROPEAN Union voted three consecutive times on a statement concerning Hong Kong, China, and Hungary refused to participate in the EU's attempts to interfere with China, all exercising a veto to prevent the adoption of the statement. Orbán also criticized the EU's resolution as politically "flippant." He said that as far as the EU's policy toward China is concerned, "it is necessary to prevent the rise of the Cold War mentality" and "restarting the Cold War will harm the interests of Europe and Hungary".

He called himself the "Little Man", but was recognized as the most powerful leader in the Western Balkans. He has "a smile and a grudge" with the United States and Europe, a "deep friendship" with Russia, and what is more praised by the world is his "suffering and truth" with China - he is the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party and President Aleksandr Vucic.

"Little Man in the Balkans"

Vučić is 1.98 meters tall, and Wikipedia calls him "one of the tallest leaders in the world." But on more than one occasion he modestly stated that he was just a "little man from the Balkans" compared to the "smarter leaders" of the rest of Europe.

This week, Vucic announced victory in the April 3 presidential election, with an individual 60 percent of the vote. This "little man" has created the myth of "winning the first round" since he ran for president in 2017. In a speech after the victory, Vucic said that while Serbia continues to strive to join the European Union, it "will never give up its traditional friendship with some countries."

Vučić graduated from the Law Department of the University of Belgrade, the best university in Serbia, and then went to Brighton, England, to study English, and did business in London for a while. After returning to Yugoslavia, he worked as a journalist in Bosnia and Herzegovina, interviewing Karadzic, the then Bosnian Serb leader. At the age of 23, Vucic joined the right-wing nationalist Serbian Radical Party and was appointed general secretary of the Serbian Radical Party two years later. At that time, Vučić was a young man, sword-eyed, and a rising star of idol politics. In 1998, at the age of 28, Vucic was appointed Serbia's minister of information.

After the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and regime change in Serbia, Vucic left the Serbian Radical Party in 2008 to join the Serbian Progressive Party, changing from "radical nationalists to moderate nationalists". Once famous for his "Qiu Xi", he began to balance the diplomacy of the East and the West with a pragmatic posture.

"Sons of refugees" committed to national rejuvenation

Vučić was born in Belgrade on 5 March 1970. His father was an economist and his mother was a journalist. Despite being born into a Kochi family, Vucic always emphasizes that he is the "son of a refugee." Because during World War II, the Vucic family living in central Bosnia was expelled by Ustaš (Croatian fascists) and moved to Belgrade to settle down. He was born in the heyday of Yugoslavia, experienced the disintegration and decline of Yugoslavia one after another, and was determined to achieve national rejuvenation.

American and European scholars have described Vucic as a "contradiction", advocating both "Westernization" of Serbia and adhering to nationalism; committing to joining the European Union and maintaining friendly relations with Russia and China. Vucic said that this reflects Serbia's national interests. He refused to recognize Kosovo's independence. A few days ago, when Ukrainian President Zelenskiy called on Serbia to condemn Russia, Vucic immediately responded: "Please first let NATO apologize for bombing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999." ”

Cole Lindsay, a Balkan expert at the London School of Economics, commented: "Vucic is very good at giving ordinary Serbs what they crave. After Vucic came to power, he built a network of highways, remodeled railway lines, and brought "jobs and salaries" to his own people by attracting foreign investment.

"Hello, my name is 577"

Wu Qiqi has a smile and a special affection for China, so many Chinese netizens affectionately call him "577" in harmonic tones. He gladly accepted, and when he wrote a message to Chinese, he said directly: "Hello, my name is 577." ”

During President Vucic's term of office, China-Cyprus cooperation has achieved gratifying results. When President Xi Jinping met with Mr. Vucic, who had come to China last month to attend the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he called China a "hardcore friend." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vucic angrily denounced "European solidarity is a fairy tale" and "China is the only country that helps", kissing the five-star red flag when accepting Chinese assistance and shedding tears of emotion several times. In February 2021, at the height of global vaccine supply, several European media outlets lamented that "with China's help, Serbia's vaccination rate exceeded that of the European Union."

Vucic has repeatedly said in public that the friendship between China and Cyprus can be described as "suffering to see the truth": "Whether it is the scale and scope of bilateral cooperation that has been expanding in recent years, or the help china has provided to Serbia after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Serbia cannot express its gratitude to China many times." ”