In a speech made on the 170th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution on Thursday, 15 March, the country's prime minister, Victór Orbán, ratcheted up his attacks against the European Union and the “globalist empire” of which it is a part.
Addressing several thousand supporters standing behind a banner proclaiming “Hungary First”, Orbán listed the European countries – "Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and soon Italy" – that have joined him in the fight against immigration, which he has been carrying out since he arrived in power in 2010.
Pitting “the millions of Europeans guided by their national feeling” against the “elite ‘citizens of the world’”, Orbán attacked “those who have transformed Europe without asking the opinion of the people(s)”. “Let's be proud of being the only country in the EU to pose the question of mass immigration to the people”, he said. This was a direct reference to the referendum on European quotas for migrants that he organised in 2016.
Orbán is hoping to maintain his large majority at the National Assembly during the general elections in Hungary in three weeks' time.
He also kept up his incessant attacks on the US billionaire of Hungarian origin, George Soros, who he accuses of insidiously supporting other candidates.
On 7 January 2017, Hungary was taken to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission on the subject of the two so-called “Stop Soros” laws on NGOs and higher education (see EUROPE 11921). (Original version in French by Mathieu Solal)