There has been a serious backlash against comments made by far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán regarding 'race-mixing' in other European states.
In the statement, he made at a summer event in Romania, Orban criticised European and people of non-European ethnicity mixing and inter-marrying. He also suggested that this means that many countries in Western Europe are no longer nations at all.
The PM said of the Western nations:
"They are nothing more than a conglomeration of peoples. In the Carpathian Basin, we are not mixed race. We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become mixed race."
The comments were decried as racist and strongly condemned by a range of groups and individuals. Among them was the Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, who said:
"It is regrettable that such ideas are propagated from the territory of Romania, in the complex global context that we all have to face, especially since our official positions are different from these theses."
Former Hungarian Prime Minister and opposition leader Ferenc Gyurcsány called Orbán a 'tragedy' while Jewish groups such as the Central European branch of the American Jewish Committee said the comments bring up the most' dangerous ideologies in history'.
Romanian MEP Alin Mituța of the Renew Europe group added that his comments were:
"Purely delusional and dangerous."
Hungary recently re-elected Orban for his fourth term despite his continual racist rhetoric and his use of anti-Semitism in order to secure votes. He has also been criticised for attempting to shut down media that does not agree with him or his party and educational institutions that harbour liberal thought.
In his racist speech, Orban also condemned the West for supporting Ukraine in their fight against the Russian invasion. Hungary has recently voted to roll back sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia.
The Romanian Foreign Minister again condemned these remarks, saying:
"Romania does not share these inappropriate views [about the war], which we distance ourselves from, because they affect European solidarity regarding action in support of Ukraine."
[Based on reporting by: Politico]
COMMENTS