Hungary defies EU: Parliament rejects EU flag during presidency

The Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Laszlo Koever, will not fly the European Union flag at its headquarters during Hungary’s six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, reports the Magyar Narancs portal.

The press office of the President of the National Assembly of Hungary announced that there is no obligation to do so, and the presidency of the Council of the EU does not impose it.

Viktor Orban’s government sharply criticises Brussels for its approach to immigration, the war in Ukraine, and sanctions on Russia, while the European Commission continues to block billions of euros for Budapest.

As Magyar Narancs emphasises, Koever has consistently refused to fly the EU flag on the representative parliament building on the Danube for a decade. The portal also reminds us that the flag of the Szeklers, a Hungarian-speaking community of about 650,000 to 700,000 people living in the eastern part of Transylvania in Romania, flies on the building.

Fidesz politicians claim that the Szeklers’ flag, a source of tension between Budapest and Bucharest, will fly on the facades of Hungarian public institutions as long as Romania does not allow its free use throughout the country.

From Monday, Hungary holds a six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Poland will take over the chairmanship of the Council after them.