Mazsihisz plea elicits indignant response from Orbán

Visits

(Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák)

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has written a defiant letter to András Heisler, president of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (Mazsihisz), in response to the latterʼs call for the removal of billboards and posters depicting Hungarian-born financier George Soros, which Heisler fears could provoke anti-Semitic sentiments.

Orbán pictured at one of his regular radio interviews. (Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák)

In an open letter addressed to Orbán last week, Heisler said that the governmentʼs repeated public reference to Soros - who is Jewish - in a pejorative context “carries serious risks,” adding that while the poster campaign is not openly anti-Semitic, it is “very apt for stirring uncontrolled emotions, among them anti-Semitic ones.”

The text of Orbánʼs response to Heisler was made available to Hungarian news agency MTI by the Prime Minister’s Press Chief Bertalan Havasi, and cited in detail on official government website kormany.hu.

“We shall mobilize the political and legal power of the Hungarian state against anyone who undermines the security of Hungary, regardless of their origins, religious affiliation or wealth,” Orbán stated in the letter.

“Illegal mass migration has brought Europe to the crossroads: either it protects its borders, it protects its culture dating back millennia, the security of its everyday life, its values of tolerance, religious acceptance and national diversity, and the rule of European law; or else it condemns itself to oblivion,” Orbán continued. “The vast majority of Hungarians believe that the answer given to the problem of illegal migration will determine the fate of Hungary and the European Union. The growing number of terrorist attacks and acts of violence are of particular concern to the Jewish community in Europe. At stake here and now are the lives of us all, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.”

“Anyone who uses their wealth, power, influence and a network of NGOs funded by them to settle millions of migrants in Hungary and the European Union is squandering our common future. On numerous occasions, the billionaire speculator George Soros has made it clear that this is exactly what he wants,” claimed Orbán.

The prime minister warned that illegal migration is bringing a culture of intolerance and growing anti-Semitism into Europe.

“I do not expect either thanks or recognition for our fight against illegal migration, but a modicum of assistance from your community would be appreciated,” he concluded by saying.

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