Eurosceptic parties are predicted to perform strongly in June’s European Parliament elections, which will herald a change in leadership of the EU institutions.

Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, is campaigning in the elections and wants to be appointed for a second term.

She froze EU funds to Hungary amid concerns over the rule of law and democratic backsliding in the country, which is led by prime minister Viktor Orban and his conservative Fidesz party.

“I would say that the track record of the decision makers in Brussels, including the European Commission, including the commissioners, including the president of the commission, including the bureaucrat, has been very poor,” Mr Szijjarto, who also mentioned corruption scandals at the European Parliament, said.

“Europe is in a worse shape than it used to be when this European administration entered into force in 2019. So, therefore, we would not like to see any of these top officials continue in their positions after the elections.”

‘Crossing fingers’ for Donald Trump win

Hungary has been regularly criticised as pro-Putin for opposing weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

“Weapons deliveries will not make Ukraine win,” Mr Szijjarto said before criticising EU sanctions on Moscow, which he blamed for soaring inflation and said had failed to stop the war or bring Russia to its knees.

He said the war did not have “a solution on the battlefield” and called for a ceasefire.

“If you think about beating Russia, then the only way to win the war is to escalate and risk a global world war,” he warned.

He said Hungary would block Ukraine joining the EU without guarantees for the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine on issues such as language rights.

Mr Szijjarto said Hungary, which is a Nato member, was “crossing fingers” for Donald Trump to win the US presidential elections in November 2024.

He said Mr Trump was the best leader to bring peace to Ukraine and accused Joe Biden, the US president, of trying to influence Hungary’s last election in favour of the opposition.

He also defended Hungary’s close relationship with China, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the country.