The “Stop Soros” package of bills, which the government submitted before the April 8 election, is a related effort, he said. “Soros’s shadow army should come out into the light,” Orbán said, referring to US billionaire George Soros.

He said it was a “moral duty” to pass the anti-migration amendment that was not approved in 2016 because the opposition withheld its support. Orbán said migration was not a matter of human rights but an issue of national security.

Those in the government who handle migration issues should have access to the tools of national security, he said. Non-Hungarian citizens who support illegal migration will be filtered out from the country, he said, referring to the “Stop Soros” bill.

Meanwhile, Orbán said the government’s goals had not changed and it would continue to protect Hungarian and Christian culture and it would not allow the country to be transferred to foreigners. It will work towards the goal of full employment, requiring a well-functioning economy, lower taxes and higher wages.

In addition, families with children will carry on getting the support while the value of pensions will be maintained and raised if possible, he said. Orbán said his government adhered to a Christian Democratic ideology.

“We are not building a liberal democracy but a Christian democracy in which human dignity comes first, the powers are separated, freedom is an absolute value, families are supported, global ideologies are rejected, there is faith in the importance of the nation, the government fights for full employment, the equality of women is respected and developments that lead to rising levels of anti-Semitism are prevented.”

Orbán said he regretted that his Fidesz party had von 133 rather than 134 seats in parliament. “As far as I can see the Kúria [Hungary’s supreme court] has stripped us of one mandate”, he said, referring to the Constitutional Court’s criticism on Thursday of the Kúria for declaring over 4,000 votes for the ruling parties invalid.

He said, however, that “it has to be accepted” and noted that under Hungarian law there was no legal remedy against the Kúria’s decision. He also noted that the final result of the election would be announced later on Friday.

The prime minister said he could not envisage any “extraordinary development” in the near future that would “sap his energies from managing the government”. He said he would be in a position to “define important and concrete tasks and get them implemented”.

Concerning the European budget, Orbán said he would not support “one which would cut funds for farmers, research and development or regional development, and re-channel those funds to countries which have accommodated migrants”.

Orbán said the EU budget negotiations were expected to take a long time and he noted that a joint budget for seven years must be unanimously agreed on.

“As long as Hungarians do not give the go-ahead, there’ll be no budget,” he said. Migrants, he added, should not be given “a single cent” and the relevant support should be provided by member states from their own budget.

Neither Hungary not central Europe have anything to fear from any dispute over the rule of law or the budget, he said, adding that Hungary could be “particularly calm” because it had been completely assessed in 2013 from the point of view of the rule of law, “and we have it on paper that all is well”.

Referring to the impending European Parliament (EP) election and his related talks with the European People’s Party, Orbán said the main topic of the election “can be nothing other than migration”, and only the Hungarians had so far had the opportunity to express their views on the matter.

The EP election will therefore be a “big referendum” on migration, he said, adding that he had offered his personal contribution as well as that of the ruling Fidesz party to a major people’s party campaign. Orbán declared that the EPP was not the largest party in the European Parliament. “That label belongs to Soros.”