“If the leadership proves to be bad, it must be replaced. It’s that simple,” Hungarian leader says.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Wednesday called for a change of leadership in Brussels as he blasted the European Union’s policies on migration and Ukraine.

“The sense of this European election is to change the leadership,” the Hungarian leader said during a gathering of prominent right-wingers in Brussels. “If the leadership proves to be bad, it must be replaced. It’s that simple.”

Orbán is bidding to tilt the EU in his direction after June’s European election, for which polls currently forecast a right-wing surge. A rightward swing could drastically shift EU policies on key issues from climate to the war in Ukraine.

The Hungarian leader’s blunt remarks took place at the National Conservatism Conference, a two-day gathering of right-wing leaders that caused uproar in Brussels when local municipalities tried to stop it from happening due to what authorities said were safety concerns.