Viktor Orban victory in Hungary: German minister warns EU

hungaryA key German minister says the EU must drop its “arrogance and condescension” towards Hungary, where Eurosceptic PM Viktor Orban has just won re-election.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants curbs on Muslim migration to the EU, and Mr Orban sees himself as a defender of “Christian” Europe.

It is a tense time in EU-Hungary relations, as Mr Orban is defying EU migration and rule-of-law policies.

Anti-EU politicians, including France’s Marine Le Pen, also welcomed his win.

Mr Orban, 54, campaigned on a Eurosceptic, anti-immigration platform.

His Fidesz party is on course to win a two-thirds majority in parliament, as it did in two previous elections.

‘Path of reform’

Poland’s nationalist government shares Mr Orban’s view that Muslim migrants threaten Europe’s “Christian” heritage.

They, along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, refuse to take in Eritrean and Syrian refugees who are currently living in overcrowded camps in Italy and Greece, awaiting relocation under an EU quota scheme.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki congratulated Mr Orban, saying “the path of reform is never easy”, but “the support of the majority of society shows that it is worth making this effort”.

Mr Orban was also congratulated by the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the biggest bloc in the European Parliament. Fidesz is a member of that group, despite the policy disputes.

The parliament’s liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt tweeted that “by congratulating Orban without calling on him to respect European values, the EPP legitimises his vile campaign, his attack on the rule of law & attempt to install authoritarianism”.

BBC

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*