Hungary’s right-wing leader Viktor Orbán plans to make a speech on the sidelines of Wednesday’s match against hosts Germany in Stuttgart, but the head of the state government there says the speech would better be about football.
“I expect that he will stick to the topic of football and friendship in his speech,” Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann said on Tuesday. As a member of the Green party, Kretschmann finds himself on the other side of the political spectrum as his Hungarian guest.
Kretschmann said the speech should be appropriate for the occasion: the major European football tournament.
“We want to meet people from all over Europe and football creates cohesion,” said the Green politician.
Orbán will attend both Hungary’s match against Germany on Wednesday, which starts at 6pm (4pm GMT), and his national team’s match against Scotland on June 23. The Hungarian leader, who will take over the rotating EU presidency on July 1, will receive Stuttgart mayor Frank Nopper on Wednesday afternoon before the match.
Those responsible for safety at the matches consider Hungary’s two matches against Germany and Scotland to be high-risk matches.
Germany will host the European Championship, which started on June 14 and ends on July 14.
Three preliminary round matches and one quarter-final are scheduled in Stuttgart.
