Szijjártó said Blinken had criticised Hungary over the freedom of religion, saying officials used “anti-Semitic tropes”.

“This accusation is especially nonsensical from the foreign minister of a country where attacks of intimidation against Jewish people have increased dramatically in the recent period and where anti-Semitic unrest has taken place at universities,” the minister said.

“Meanwhile, Israel’s national team and football clubs will play their matches in Hungary again in the next season because they feel safe here,” Szijjártó said.

Meanwhile, Orbán's Political Director accuses Brussels Elite Misinterpreting European Voters' Will

The Brussels elite is misinterpreting European voters’ will because whereas voters’ preferences clearly reflect a shift to the right and right-wing parties have strengthened, they view the election results as if they were a reaffirmation of the elite’s past era, the prime minister’s political director said.

Balázs Orbán said Hungary would be the member of a coalition in Brussels that urges changes and believes that past policies have been proven wrong and they failed, so the EU needs a new direction.

Orbán said talks were under way with the participation of Hungarian ruling party MEPs, aiming to set up a large right-wing sovereigntist coalition in Europe that pursued policies based on patriotism. The various initiatives would be made public in the upcoming days, he added.

“The Hungarian position remains unchanged,” he said. “The European right wing sovereigntist patriotic forces must work together and the more of them can cooperate, the stronger we can represent the European people’s will in Brussels,” he added.

Orbán: Hungary Won’t Back Von Der Leyen’s Mandate

Hungary cannot support the extension of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's mandate, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Brussels on Thursday.

In a doorstep interview ahead of a two-day European Council summit, Orbán said Von der Leyen had used the rule of law as a party political tool against Hungary.

Orbán said a newly elected Polish government had implemented changes “that were at least questionable.

“When I asked in a letter whether we Hungarians could do what the new Polish government did in Poland, they didn’t even deign to answer. We do not think the president of such a Commission should stay in place.”

He said the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Liberals had formed a “coalition” to name the new leaders of European Union institutions.

“That is a party coalition of lies and deception,” he said. Orbán called the agreement “shameful”, and said it had been set up based on party affiliations, without regard to the “bad performance of the past five years” or plans for the future.

The EPP “has collected some of the right-wing votes and shifted them to the left,” Orbán said. “This is impertinence in the face of European voters,” he said. “We have no reason to support this abuse of power.”

Orbán: ’We Take Country Specific Recommendations As Compliments’

Speaking ahead of a European Council summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said regarding country specific recommendations to Hungary in EU reports that “we take those as compliments.”

Those are important tools of Hungarian economic policy and contribute to Hungarian growth’s far outstripping the EU average, he added.

“That’s where Hungarian success comes from. They want to take that success away, but we shall not give it away,” he said. Asked about Hungary’s EU presidency starting on Monday, Orbán said its main focus areas were competitiveness and economic growth.

Besides those issues, “which are supported by everyone,” Hungary also seeks to promote peace and stop illegal migration, he added.

“Large countries are backing 95% of our programmes,” he added.

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