Orbán rails against Soros’s ‘Brussels kingdom’

(Photo: Károly Árvai/kormany.hu)

More than 1.68 million people participated in the Hungarian government’s “national consultation” by filling in and sending back a questionnaire concerning issues related to “Brussels” and what the government terms illegal migration. Some 99% of the respondents “reinforced the government’s standpoint,” according to an entry on government website kormany.hu.

The Hungarian government has called it the “most successful national consultation ever.” However, the questionnaire received widespread international criticism, with the European Commission even issuing a press statement in April claiming that the questions were not factual or contained false claims. 

The prime minister yesterday stressed that respondents to the questionnaire “were effectively in full agreement that the Hungarian people should not transfer control to Brussels; they do not want to surrender any more powers or any competences other than those specified in the original treaties, in the accession documents,” kormany.hu quoted the prime minister as saying in a synopsis of the speech.

Orbán said that Hungary defends the European “acquis,” adding that it is a “strong and proud European country” which stands up for its opinions and interests. Therefore, he said, “Hungary wants the original European Union: the EU of the founding fathers, rather than a Brussels kingdom,” kormany.hu reported. 

However, as Orbán pointed out, where a kingdom is being built there are always “kingmakers” in the background. His speech suggested that such a “kingmaker” is George Soros, a “determined and successful money man who thinks himself a superior being.”

The prime minister said that Soros is “someone who has a plan,” which is that he wants one million migrants with different cultural backgrounds to settle in Europe every year, which he said Soros would try to realize even by force and “against the express wishes of the European people,” kormany.hu added.

The prime minister was quoted as accusing Soros of being “a speculator operating an extensive mafia network, who is threatening Europe’s peace and future.” He also said that Soros is a businessman for whom “migration is good business.” Orbán concluded: “The reason he is so angry with Hungary – and me personally – is that we stand in the way of his grand plan and his grand business project.”

Orbán was also cited on kormany.hu as saying that people smugglers and the NGOs assisting illegal immigration constitute “a collective mafia network.” He claimed that the Hungarian people do not want to take in illegal migrants, “not a single one, not on a temporary basis, or on any other basis.”

Referring to the infringement procedure launched against Hungary two weeks ago by the European Commission in the wake of the countryʼs refusal to participate in the EU-wide relocation of refugees, Orbán was cited as saying that Soros is “giving the leaders of the EU instructions on a number of issues,” and that the procedure was launched “under his orders.”

As cited by kormany.hu, Orbán added that Soros will do everything in his power to install a government in Hungary which “dances to his tune,” which dismantles the fence at Hungaryʼs southern border and which opens the borders to illegal immigrants. He promised his audience that “we shall not let Soros have the last laugh.”