US vice-president said bloc tried to ‘destroy’ country’s economy, despite it being a net recipient of EU funds
During his visit to Budapest, where he heaped praise on the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, days before the country’s decisive election, JD Vance claimed the EU was responsible for “one of the worst examples of election interference” he had ever seen.
Standing alongside Orbán on Tuesday, the US vice-president said: “The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers. And they’ve done it all because they hate this guy.”
How do these claims stand up?
He probably meant the European Commission, which is responsible for drafting and enforcing EU law. The “bureaucrats of Brussels” is a longstanding Eurosceptic trope. Those who deploy it, like Vance, usually leave out the fact that EU law and policy is determined by 27 member states, mostly with the input of the European parliament.
