More than 90% of the European citizens are worried about the increase in the cost of living, European parliamentarian Iuliu Winkler (Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania, European Peoples Party) said on Tuesday in Deva – citing the Eurobarometer polls from 2023, believing that this aspect will represented one of the themes of the electoral campaign for this year’s European Parliament elections.
“The cost of living crisis is caused by fuel price increases, the energy crisis, inflation, this accelerated green transition that is becoming unbearable for the majority of citizens. (…) Among all the areas of the globe, the EU is under the worst pressure due to wars from Ukraine and Israel, because we are at the confluence of the two sources of instability,” Winkler told a press conference.
According to him, the second major theme of the campaign for the European Parliament will be migration, a subject that has remained constant in the attention of public opinion since 2015. The European deputy drew attention to the fact that the subject of migration is exploited by extreme right-wing forces, as well as by certain states. “For example, Austria opposes the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, citing illegal migration in the EU,” said the UDMR MEP.
The third big theme will be the one related to the need for a new social contract for Europe, which means a new understanding between citizens and politicians. “The EU had a certain direction that was imprinted by its founders, but in the last 5 years we have moved away from it a lot,” said Winkler.
In the opinion of the UDMR MEP, it would be time for the EU to return to the values of the founding fathers and make policies for people, and not for ideologies. He explained that under the pressure of the Green Pact, numerous ideological decisions were made that did not take into account the needs of the people, the costs they will be forced to pay and their ability to adapt.
During the press conference, Iuliu Winkler confirmed that he submitted his candidacy in the internal competition in the UDMR to be included in the Union’s list of candidates in the European Parliament elections.