Hungarian conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has called on voters to send a “strong message” of change to Brussels during the European Parliament elections, highlighting the importance of strong borders.
“We want change, and a Europe that protects its borders on land and at sea,” Prime Minister Orbán said on Kossuth Radio, according to a press release from the Hungarian government.
“We want to see leaders in Brussels who don’t want to organise migration, but who want to stop it,” he added.
Orbán then railed against the mainstream media and establishment politicians, claiming that they made politicians who were strong on border security into “hate figures.” He specifically mentioned two of his key allies, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and U.S. President Donald Trump, meeting the latter in Washington D.C. earlier this month.
President Trump praised the Hungarian premier during their meeting saying: “Viktor Orbán has done a tremendous job in so many different ways. He’s highly respected, respected all over Europe.”
“Probably like me a little bit controversial, but that’s OK. That’s OK. You’ve done a good job. And you’ve kept your country safe,” he added.
Giving his own take on the meeting with the U.S. President, Orbán noted that Mr Trump had a firm grasp on the economic relationship between the two countries but said he was even more acutely aware of the country’s problems with mass migration saying: “What he was most aware of was migration and the Muslim invasion heading for Europe, which the Hungarians have stopped on land.”
Along with Mr Trump and Mr Salvini, who he has referred to in the past as his “hero,” Orbán named several countries across the globe which were following a path of looking out for their country first including Poland, India, and Israel, the latter of which his government has enjoyed good relations, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting Hungary in 2017.