Orbán tried to begin in a low-key and restrained tone when he stood before the members to talk about Hungary's ongoing presidency in the EU Council of Ministers.
His frequently repeated criticism of climate measures, Brussels bureaucracy, and migration policy was clearly toned down.
It did not help, however, when both the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the representatives of the large party groups responded with harsh criticism.
Ukraine and Migration
The leader of the Christian Democratic Conservative EPP group, Manfred Weber, noted that Orbán did not mention Ukraine in his speech and criticized his trip to Moscow last summer.
Your trip was never a peace mission. It was a war-prolonging trip, said Weber.
The Social Democratic S&D's Iratxe García Pérez scolded Orbán's words about illegal migration increasing homophobia in the EU.
How can you talk about homophobia and gender-based violence when you in your country remove laws that protect women and the LGBTQ movement? said García Pérez.
This, in turn, caused Orbán to drop his restraint. In a long response, he angrily retorted about almost everything.
All these left-wing lies are just political propaganda. If you attack me, I defend my country, said Orbán.
"Sad Theatre"
The Prime Minister's appearance in Strasbourg has been debated. The Green party group is critical of Orbán being invited at all.
To give a platform here in the EU Parliament to an anti-democrat, a dictator, a person who oppresses his own people and supports Putin, is to play along in his play that will be exploited in his propaganda channels. It is a sad theatre, says Swedish MEP Alice Bah Kuhnke (Green Party).
The EU's presidency has as its main task to lead the Council of Ministers' meetings and ongoing negotiations with the EU Parliament and the EU Commission.
In the presidency, various informal ministerial meetings are held, although all formal meetings are held in Brussels.
The presidency rotates between all member states for a period of six months each. After Hungary's presidency until the end of the year, the following countries will follow in the next five years:
2025: Poland (spring), Denmark (autumn)
2026: Cyprus (spring), Ireland (autumn)
2027: Lithuania (spring), Greece (autumn)
2028: Italy (spring), Latvia (autumn)
2029: Luxembourg (spring), Netherlands (autumn)
