EU to be led by an anti-EU Viktor Orban

Europe is now in the weird position of being led by someone who doesn't appear to believe in the grand European experiment at all. As of tomorrow, July 1st, Hungary's Viktor Orban takes over the European presidency for half a year.

There's not much Europe can do about it. The post rotates among member countries, and this next six months happens to be Hungary's turn. Orban has been a thorn in the side of the European Union for years now, seemingly taking every opportunity to block, water down or delay key EU decisions, such as on Russia and the war in Ukraine, China, and any efforts to defend or extend democracy. 

Orban is a hard right-wing populist and demagogue, most of whose policies and beliefs are in direct contravention to those of mainstream Europe. He seems to relish his reputation as a spoiler and frustrater of EU policy, right down to his deliberately Trump-esque motto for the presidency position "Make Europe Great Again".

Luckily, the post of EU President does not actually carry with it that much power, and the bloc deliberately pushed through several of the more important votes while Belgium was still at the helm. So, as one commentator puts it, "Hungary cannot do potentially much harm". 

It will be interesting to see, though, to what extent Hungary under Orban will keep up its anti-EU rhetoric, even while technically leading it.

UPDATE

And now there are reports of Orban planning a trip to see Vladimir Putin, something that EU top diplomats say he has no mandate to do. Orban is the only head of government to have maintained close ties with Russia, even throughout the Ukraine war.