Final Word from Monday, June 1, 2026

Viktor Orbán told the Hungarian Parliament in Sept., while he was still PM, that the current structure of the EU isn't conducive to making the economies of the individual member states successful because of the centralization plans and stubborn defense of failed policies. If there isn't a sharp turnaround, he said, it's over for the EU. But it won't be sudden, he added, and will instead be more like a lingering illness resembling death from exhaustion. People in the former territories of the Roman Empire thought for a long time that it still existed, he said, although it had long ceased to be, and this is what awaits us too. Orbán was silenced by Péter Magyar in the parliamentary elections in April, but the EU still has Czech PM Andrej Babiš. He said in the Financial Times yesterday that, "The EU is now probably on the same road as the end of the Roman empire." Now that Babiš has adopted Orbán's language, he'll have to decide whether he's also willing to pay the political price of turning it into an action plan. [ Czech Republic Hungary European Union decline end ]