Soros rebuffs claims in latest ‘national consultation’
In a rebuttal released today, Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist George Soros has labelled as false all the statements formulated in the ongoing “national consultation” initiated by the Hungarian government on what it has repeatedly alleged is a “Soros Plan” to forcibly resettle migrants across Europe.
The latest national consultation was launched in October, containing a number of statements by the government pertaining to the alleged Soros Plan for migrant resettlement, which were initially published in Hungarian by pro-government daily newspaper Magyar Idők, and translated into English by the Budapest Business Journal in a report in late September here.
Although the Magyar Idők report described the seven points featuring in the document as “questions,” supported by “info boxes” with quotes from Soros, they are listed as statements with which respondents are invited to agree or disagree.
The national consultation document, posted to eight million citizens on October 9, accuses Soros - among other things - of plotting to flood Europe with more than one million immigrants each year in cahoots with the European Commission.
The controversy began almost immediately in response to the campaign, with a spokesperson for Soros issuing a statement declaring that “there is no such thing as a global conspiracy against Hungary orchestrated by George Soros,” while the Financial Times described the campaign as “an attack on European values of openness, tolerance and respect for human rights” and “fake news.”
In response, Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács accused the FT of “clear bias and continued ignorance of the facts”, and an “unhealthy obsession” with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
More than one month after the launch of the latest consultation, the communications department of the Soros-founded Open Society Foundations announced that “George Soros has decided to set the record straight after being viciously targeted in a campaign of lies and distortions.”
A statement released today, under the heading “Rebuttal of the October 9 National Consultation in Hungary,” states that the document contains “distortions and outright lies that deliberately mislead Hungarians about George Soros’s views on migrants and refugees.”
“With Hungary’s health care and education systems in distress and corruption rife, the current government has sought to create an outside enemy to distract citizens,” the introduction asserts. “The government selected George Soros for this purpose, launching a massive anti-Soros media campaign costing tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money, stoking anti-Muslim sentiment, and employing anti-Semitic tropes reminiscent of the 1930s.”
The rebuttal introduction also notes that Soros established a foundation in Hungary in 1984, since when “his support for Hungarians has totaled roughly €350 million and has included scholarships, health care services, and humanitarian efforts, including €1 million for reconstruction after the red sludge disaster in 2010. He also funds current efforts to help educate children with learning disabilities, tackle homelessness, and bring public transportation to the Hungarian countryside.”
The full statement and detailed responses to each of the Hungarian governmentʼs assertions in the national consultation are available here in English, Hungarian, German and French.
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