Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has slammed accusations that his country is anti-Semitic, saying that mass migration has led to a true rise in anti-Semitism in Western Europe.
The Hungarian leader’s remarks came after he was questioned about anti-semitism in Hungary and accusations of anti-Semitism over his campaigns against the influence of left-wing billionaire George Soros in an interview with Germany’s Welt.
“The international aspect doesn’t interest me all that much. Hungarian Jews enjoy the protection of the government. Also, we conduct a consistently pro-Israeli foreign policy,” Orbán said and added, “Because we are convinced that the existence of a Jewish state is not only important for European Jews but that the security of Israel is a key question for the stability of Europe.”
Admitting that Hungary has had an anti-semitic Christian right in the past, the Hungarian prime minister said, “we have done away with that.”
“Today antisemitism has assumed a new character: The enmity against Jews and against Israel is carried into our societies by migration,” he said and noted that anti-Semitism is rising in Western Europe and decreasing in Central Europe.
Several reports in recent months have backed up the Hungarian leader’s claim including reports from both Germany and France that revealed a substantial rise in anti-Semitic incidents over the last year.
On Soros himself, Orbán labelled the Hungarian-born billionaire “the ugly face of globalism,” adding, “On the one side stands Hungary, represented by its elected political representatives. On the other side, the international NGOs financed by Soros and elected by no-one, who want us to follow a different migration policy.”
Orbán and his party Fidesz are also seeing pushback from the European People’s Party (EPP) parliamentary group in the European Parliament.
Last month, members of the Swedish Moderate Party called for Fidesz to be removed from the group and this week the EPP began measures to expel the party.
EPP President Joseph Daul announced Tuesday that the group would decide this month whether or not Fidesz could stay.
“Twelve EPP member parties from nine countries have called for the expulsion or suspension of Fidesz, which will be discussed at the political assembly on March 20th,” Daul said and added, “Only the political assembly can exclude or suspend a member party, we can not anticipate the decision of the political assembly.”
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