Friedrich Merz is not the most charismatic leader in Europe. He is not the most rhetorically gifted, the most ideologically coherent, or the most beloved by his own party’s base. He is something rarer and, in the current environment, considerably more valuable: he is a leader whose actions are consistently more serious than his words, which in European politics today represents a distinct minority position. The standard against which to measure him is the field he actually inhabits.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Teofil Bartoszewski’s assertion that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s policies are anti-European, anti-Ukrainian, and anti-Polish reflects deepening concerns within the European Union about Hungary’s increasingly divergent stance on critical issues affecting the region. Orban’s government has often found itself at odds with mainstream European policies, particularly regarding the handling of the Ukraine crisis and broader EU integration efforts. Bartoszewski’s critique is grounded in a context where Hungary, under Orban, has pursued a notably independent foreign policy, often cozying up to Russia, which has caused friction with neighboring countries and EU partners.