In an interview to public radio on Sunday, Orbán said central European leaders were determined not to fall into the trap of “quite a few other European countries, who may not even recognise themselves in a few years’ time”.

Meanwhile, the prime minister insisted that western Europeans were now speaking their minds on the issue of migration, and it was increasingly difficult for political leaders to ignore them.

“After forty years of Communism, we were used to the idea that free speech is only possible to the west of us,” he said.

“People are now saying there is trouble and the solutions are no good. We s te r n Europeans are now realising that they can dare speak their minds and politicians cannot afford to neglect them, Orbán said.

He insisted that Hungarians, “being central Europeans with vigilant instincts”, had seen trouble ahead, but western Europe had ignored them. “Now it is clear that we were right,” he added.

Orbán said that those who had attacked Hungary in the past year were actually afraid of a “Hungarian way of thinking”. But this way of thinking has been vindicated, he said.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Szecsődi Balázs