‘Hungary didn’t want migrants, Germany did’ – German Bild’s interview with Orbán

Germany has always welcomed migrants while Hungary didn’t, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the German Bild Zeitung in an interview published on Monday. Hungary is doing its share by protecting the EU’s Schengen border, he said.

Orbán said he does not see those striving to enter the European Union as Muslim refugees but as “a Muslim invading force”, economic migrants in search of a better life. They have crossed four safe countries on their way to the EU, “which are not as rich as Germany” but are safe and where they do not have to “run for their lives”, he said.

Those arriving at Hungary’s borders in 2015 entered the country illegally, it “was not a wave of refugees but an invasion”, he said. “I never understood how Germany, an example of discipline and the rule of law to us, could celebrate a mass illegal entry, anarchy and chaos as something good,” he said.

Politically, the issue of migration is a problem of the European Union. Sociologically, it is a German problem, Orbán said. All migrants aim for Germany because they “want a German life”, he insisted. The Hungarian people do not want migration, Orbán said. “In my view, it is impossible for a government to reject the people’s will on such a fundamental issue. This is a question of sovereignty and cultural identity. We have to preserve the prerogative to decide who is to live on Hungarian soil.”

A large number of Muslim immigrants will lead to parallel societies. Multiculturalism is an illusion, Muslim and Christian societies will never connect, he said. “We [Hungary] do not want this. And we do not want anyone to force it upon us,” Orbán said.

Regarding the fact that

Hungary refuses to comply with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling ordering it to accept nearly 1,300 asylum seekers,

Orbán said the ruling pertained to an EU decree which has expired during the procedure. Otherwise he would have accepted the ruling. “We observe the rule of law”, he said. The solution to the problem is not to distribute illegal migrants throughout the EU but to take help where the problems arise, he said. “The EU is a wonderful project, of which we are glad to be a part, and in which we will remain a member,” said Orbán.

Asked about the nationwide billboard campaign against US billionaire George Soros, Orbán responded saying that Soros, “who had accumulated his wealth from casino capitalism and who styles himself a head of state without a state”, is also waging a campaign against the Hungarian government.

“This open debate is nothing if not a proof of press freedom,” Orbán said, adding that Soros had been financing 60 NGOs that support migration to Europe.

“But now all this concerns national security and not the freedom of opinion, and I must take steps,” he told the paper. The Hungarian prime minister was also asked about criticism levelled against him by SPD party leader Martin Schulz and others for participating as guest of honour at the German CSU party’s annual conference over the weekend.

Orbán responded as saying that he had always respected Schulz as “a great warrior”. It is however two different things “to be entertaining as a warrior ” and “carrying responsibility in shaping a country’s politics”, he told the paper.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI