PM Orbán: Opposition Win Would Endanger Hungary

  • 6 Apr 2018 7:14 AM
  • Hungary Matters
PM Orbán: Opposition Win Would Endanger Hungary
Viktor Orbán said radical nationalist Jobbik was “obviously attempting to bypass Fidesz and manoeuvre itself into the left wing”.

This effort, however, sometimes results in “ridiculous” situations that “discredit” Jobbik politicians, the prime minister said in an interview published in business weekly Figyelő.

“Those who set fire to EU flags a few years ago have by now become pro-Brussels politicians. It’s all about money and power for them,” he said. Orbán said that if the left wing came to power in any form, public utility fees and taxes would go up, hurting particularly Hungarian businesses, and unemployment would increase again.

He warned that the “seemingly stumbling” opposition parties should not be underestimated, arguing that “their strength lies in foreign infusion rather than their own performance.”

“They are fighting as mercenaries of their foreign masters, which is a serious source of danger,” he said.

As regards the issue of migration, Orbán said Hungarians had understood where it would take the country if it “yielded to” a promigration policy.

“An anti-migrant majority has come to exist not only in Hungary but across Europe. The question now is how this massive majority will develop into a political majority,” Orbán said.

The prime minister called 2018 a crucial year in which it would turn out whether “global powers, assisted by bureaucrats sitting in Brussels, manage to force pro-immigrant governments onto countries that have so far rejected migration”.

Orbán said the European Council would be the scene of a “key battle” in June when Brussels will once again try to push through its automatic migrant resettlement scheme, under which Hungary would be obliged to accept in a first step 10,000 people by the end of this year.

If Hungary is not represented by an “anti-immigration prime minister” in that debate, it “will ultimately fall and be taken away from the Hungarian people”, he said.

  • How does this content make you feel?

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

Explore More Reports

  • Vast Majority of Hungarians Oppose Sending European Troops to Ukraine - New Survey Reveals

    Vast Majority of Hungarians Oppose Sending European Troops to Ukraine - New Survey Reveals

    • 22 Mar 2024 7:39 AM

    Fully 86% of Hungarians oppose sending European or NATO troops to Ukraine, according to a fresh survey by pollster Századvég, which said that several European leaders had recently “joined in on the war rhetoric of French President Emmanuel Macron”, proposing that European countries should support Ukraine in the war against Russia by sending troops of their own to the conflict.

  • Orbán to Meet Trump in US This Week

    Orbán to Meet Trump in US This Week

    • 6 Mar 2024 6:37 PM

    Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will meet former U.S. President Donald Trump this coming Friday in Florida, shortly after he openly endorsed his long-time ally's bid to return to the U.S. presidency this year, according to international news wire Reuters.