EPP boss Weber feels ‘privileged’ to be targeted by billboard campaign in Hungary

The president of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the European Parliament’s largest group, said he feels privileged to be targeted in a current billboard campaign of the Hungarian government.

The Hungarian government is encouraging citizens to vote in a national consultation over the bid of Ukraine for accession to the EU. Viktor Orbán’s government favours blocking Kyiv’s accession considering it harmful to the EU and the Hungarian economy.

The billboards are designed to encourage people to vote and show pictures of EPP president Manfred Weber, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen together with Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenskyy under the slogan: “Don’t let them to decide over our heads.”

Weber said the fact of their faces being on the billboards was a sign of them doing a good job, when asked during a press conference in Brussels.

“It is a kind of a privilege in the meanwhile to be one of the main points of attack of the propaganda of Viktor Orbán. We have seen this happening since months and years. It still confirms what we stand for as European People’s Party. We are the party of Europe, we are the party of the rule of law, and we are the party of Ukraine’s support,” he added.

Hungary regularly conducts non-binding polls among the population to ask questions on different domestic and international topics. The results of those polls are legally non-binding for the government. The government of Viktor Orbán also often depicts EU leaders on billboards. In 2023 von der Leyen was portrayed together with Alex Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros and current chair of the Open Society Foundation under the slogan: “Let’s not dance to their tune!” 

The Commission declined to comment on the billboard campaign, adding that consultative polls are matter for national authorities and that, for the EU, Ukraine’s accession remains a priority.

“Ukraine belongs to the European family. That’s why the EU opened accession negotiations with Ukraine in June 2024,” said a Commission spokesperson.

In the last two European Council meetings in Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made clear that his government opposes financial or military aid to Ukraine and signalled its willingnessto block future membership of Ukraine. Orbán said the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine would be a financial disaster for the EU, and having Ukraine in the common market would divert important cohesion and agricultural funds away from Hungary.