Speech by EC president in Strasbourg was most pointed criticism of Hungarian leader’s economic and political policies yet

Ursula von der Leyen has accused Viktor Orbán of a historic failure to support Ukraine, economic mismanagement and making his country a “back door for foreign interference” in her sharpest public rebuke yet to Hungary’s strongman leader.

Standing a few metres away from Orbán in the European parliament in Strasbourg, the European Commission president pointedly criticised Orbán’s stance on Ukraine by contrasting his record with those of Hungarian freedom fighters of 1956 who rose against Soviet oppression but were ultimately defeated by the Red Army.