Trump presidency will help to ‘occupy Brussels’, says Orbán
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Hungary PM says new US leader will bolster Europe’s rightwing forces as nationalist politicians attend inauguration. Donald Trump’s presidency will boost rightwing political forces across Europe, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said, as he announced an offensive “to occupy Brussels”.
![[The pair embrace]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/418aebd89c9e0f611dab440d13ff30a0673b80ad/0_12_1775_1065/master/1775.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Hungary’s long-serving prime minister and Trump ally was speaking as European far-right and nationalist politicians flocked to Washington to welcome the returning US president at Monday’s inauguration. Orbán, who has a record of inflammatory statements about the EU, cited Trump and the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European parliament, saying: “So the great attack can start. Hereby I launch the second phase of the offensive that aims to occupy Brussels.”.
![[Giorgia Meloni]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0a1003d466964be0a5fc90fdc8737150457b5052/0_0_5107_3404/master/5107.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The return of Trump has unsettled democratic leaders. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, warned on Monday that France and Europe would be “crushed” and “marginalised” if they failed to stand up for their interests. “The United States has decided to embark upon an extremely domineering form of politics, via the dollar, via its industrial policy, via the fact that it can capture the world’s investments and the world’s research,” Bayrou said. “And if we don’t do anything, our fate is very simple – we will be dominated. We will be crushed. We will be marginalised.”.
![[Jordan Bardella]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4ddc327f53380a139dddcd8408b89a52221f3e8f/0_136_5383_3231/master/5383.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In an address hours before Trump was due to take the oath of office, with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg looking on, Spain’s leftwing prime minister urged Europe to resist a big tech “class” trying to influence western governments and public debate through its “absolute power over social media”.
