People claiming political asylum should be exempted, he said. “It must be made clear that we will not allow, at least as long as I am the prime minister ... Hungary to become the target of immigrants. We do not want a significant minority with different cultural characteristics and backgrounds living among us; we would like Hungary to stay as it is,” he said.

Szabó asked Orbán to stop “rubbing shoulders with the radical right” and riding against the will of the Hungarian people who, she said, want the country to be a part of Europe not only economically but culturally, too. Orbán’s remarks also mean that he believes the hundreds and thousands of Hungarians working abroad have no place in European countries. The leftist Democratic Coalition party (DK) said that the prime minister had started to represent the “chronic populist policies of the extremist Jobbik party”.

Lawmaker Ágnes Vadai, who sits in parliament as an independent, said that Orbán spoke in Paris as if he were a prime minister of a country that must tackle the dangers of immigration. Yet ever since he assumed power people have been leaving the country at an ever faster rate, she said.

The Együtt (Together) party said Orbán was betraying the European values he himself espoused 25 years ago and is increasing Hungary’s international isolation further by making “xenophobic comments”. The radical nationalist Jobbik party, in turn, said that the issue of immigration and refugees is “putting an awkward strain on Europe”.

Dániel Z Kárpát said that Jobbik believes Europe should put up a “house full” sign. In the case of Hungary no attempt to increase immigration should even be considered, Z Kárpát said. He added that the number of asylum-seekers arriving in Hungary has increased eight-fold over the past one to two years.

Socialist leader Jozsef Tobias said that instead of closing up, Hungary should work together with European countries in drafting a counterterrorism strategy. Tóbiás said that the message of Orbán’s remarks on economic migration is that the UK and Germany should send home the Hungarians working in those countries.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: PM's office / Burger Barna