Orbán berates Brussels for quota system
As anti-government protests were held around Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán used his annual speech on the March 15 national holiday to berate Brussels for its efforts to make European Union member states accept a quota of refugees. He raised the specter of “cosmopolitan immigration policies” and “gangs” who might “hunt down our women and daughters”.
Hungaryʼs Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his speech yesterday morning. (Photo: MTI/Tamás Kovács)
Addressing a crowd on the steps of the National Museum yesterday morning, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán focused on a stance that has brought him some popularity: his opposition to the EU’s migrant quota scheme. “If we want to stop mass migration, we want to put the brakes on Brussels first,” Orbán said. “Brussels cannot be above the law.”
The prime minister said Hungarians have always been welcoming of “new family members, allies or newcomers running for their lives” but they never cared for anyone who had “the intention of transforming the country or who brought violence”. He said Hungary did not want to import “cosmopolitan immigration policies ... crime, terrorism, homophobia or anti-Semitism. ... We don’t want gangs to hunt down our women and daughters,” he said. Drawing a parallel with the War of Independence that took place between 1848-49 and which is celebrated on March 15, he said that Europe is not free today because it was prohibited from saying the truth, “that mass migration threatens the continent”.
Orbán greeted Polish members of the audience, who were dressed in 19th century military uniforms, and said that Hungary and Poland are allies. During Orbán’s speech approximately 200-500 demonstrators booed and hissed on the boulevard in front of the museum, chanting “Viktátor!”, according to a report by online news portal origo.hu.
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