Brussels is "Too Exclusive", Claims Writer

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Feb 13, 2012, 01:50 ET

BUDAPEST, Hungary, February 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Oleg Golovin, a publicist from Hungary has claimed that Brussels "does not accept strong politicians who have an opinion of their own."

Golovin said: "The protests today are shaking not only Moscow. The capital of Hungary, Budapest, has not seen so many meetings for quite a long time, especially considering the fact that unlike the general European crisis these rallies are for the current government.

"The current Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, who after eight years retook his post in 2010 (from 1998 to 2002 he headed the government), has already done quite a lot - from changing the country's name from the "Republic of Hungary" to simply "Hungary" to amending the Constitution. Many people accuse him of the right populism, but for a long time in Hungary there was no leader, for whom more than 100 000 people (in the country with 10 million) were ready to protest on the streets after work.

"The Hungarians believe that Orban's potential was revealed only during the second term when he started the real consolidation of power. That's why his opponents criticize him for innovations in the mass media laws, for which he was accused of introducing censorship and for the new Central Bank law, to which Brussels is opposed.

"The European Union is kind of a trap for its members - with the formal observance of the principle of every country's economic sovereignty, in fact the degree of European Commission's influence in the internal affairs is growing. It became especially evident during the crisis. But for Germany's stubborn desire in the European Commission to keep euro zone unchanged (and, hence, its savings), the situation in Greece would have been solved in a traditional way - the protests of the population, Greece leaves the euro zone, the return of the national currency - drachma, jumping inflation, default and the gradual recovery of the real sector of economy. But it is pointless for poor Greeks even to start a revolution at home as all the decisions are made not there, but in Brussels.

"Quite the same situation is now in Hungary, though as a result of Orban's consolidation of the economy the budget deficit amounted to about 3%, and Hungary occupied the 7th place among the EU countries at this level. Inflation of the Hungarian forint by 30% has remained Budapest's internal problem, which it tried to solve on their own through state control of the Central Bank. Euro-bureaucrats from the European Commission didn't like such state protectionism very much. They began to threaten almost with the exclusion of Hungary from the European Union. For justice's sake it should be mentioned that the same ideas could be heard at demonstrations in Budapest, only from the opposite side.

"The conflict between Viktor Orban, one of the few remaining outstanding leaders of modern Europe, with officials of the European Union is quite demonstrative. Built on the principle of characterlessness the EU system does not accept strong politicians who have an opinion of their own like Silvio Berlusconi, Nicolas Sarkozy, Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin. That's why, in particular, Brussels will cast doubt on Putin's victory in the upcoming elections.

"Anyone who tries to build its own, different from the imposed by Brussels, system of values, nowadays is destined to fight alone. Some of them manage to keep their position, but Berlusconi's example says that everything has an end. Only really big players can afford to play by their rules without looking at others.

"Viktor Orban decided to remember the great history of Hungary and at least on the national level he gave his people moral compensation for the painful Treaty of Trianon in 1920, when Hungary lost two-thirds of its former territory. He tried to conduct an independent economic policy and build a new Great Hungary. But he wasn't understood in a faceless European Commission with some charisma from Rompuy and Barroso. He became an outcast.

"The problem of the crisis of leadership in Europe is not new, but now it can be seen particularly clear. Today when regionalization movements are growing rapidly any strong player becomes the center of local attraction. Putin's project of creating the Eurasian Union can significantly accelerate the economic development of its members. But it will more pleasant for Moscow to build strong relationship with leaders in Berlin, Paris, Rome and Budapest than with dull and U.S.-controlled European bureaucrats in Brussels."

Oleg Golovin, publicist

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