In response to the tens of thousands of Hungarians protesting against the expanding pardon scandal this week that has already claimed the president, the former Justice minister, and the head of the Reformed (Lutheran) Church (which I covered in Friday's diary), PM Victor Orban has now declared, according to the German news agency DPA international:
The paedophilia scandal currently causing outrage in Hungary has run its course, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said during a traditional annual address to the nation.
While the case was "a nightmare" that affected all of Hungary, the resignation on February 10 of Katalin Novák as president and the withdrawal from public life of former justice minister Judit Varga had restored the country's unity, Orbán said.
The right-wing prime minister said that the two women had greater dignity in their little fingers than all the leaders on the left. "Even good people can take poor decisions," he said.
On Friday evening, tens of thousands gathered in Budapest to protest at the government's handling of the scandal, caused when both women signed a pardon for an orphanage director who had covered up child sex abuse at his institution.
The demonstrations have widened into a general protest against Orbán's Fidesz party, which together with an ally holds a two-thirds majority in the Budapest parliament.
Yeah, good luck with that rose-colored assessment, Victor! Meanwhile, as reported by the AP, a bi-partisan delegation of US Senators went to Budapest to try and apply further pressure on Orban’s government to speed up its ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO — the last NATO country to do so, despite Orban’s repeated past assurances that Hungary would not be the last to do so. Instead, the invitation of the US Senators [Tillis (R-NC), Shaheen (D-NH), Murphy (D-CT)] to meet with them was completely rejected by Orban’s officials — even though Orban’s main beef with Sweden seems to be that the Swedish PM refuses to pay him a curtesy call in Budapest!
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister, said Friday that he welcomed the senators' visit but that it was “not worth trying to exert pressure on us, because we are a sovereign country.”
“We are glad they are coming here because they can see for themselves that everything they read about Hungary in the liberal American media is a blatant lie," Szijjártó said.
In response:
Murphy said Orbán's government's refusal to meet was “strange and concerning," but that the onus was on the long-serving leader to push forward a vote.
...
Two U.S. senators [Shaheen and Tillis] will submit a bipartisan resolution to Congress condemning democratic backsliding in Hungary and urging its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden's accession into the NATO military alliance.
...
The senators' resolution criticizes Orbán's increasingly warm relations with Russia and China, and notes that while Hungary has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Moscow's invasion, it has also “resisted and diluted European Union sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation.”
Granted this will just be a “Sense of the Senate” resolution criticizing Orban’s government, but apparently Orban thinks picking an open fight with the US at this point is a useful distraction to the pedo scandal that shows no sign of going away anytime soon.