Election 2018 – Opposition PM candidate meets Austria’s ex-chancellor

Hungary’s April 8 general election will bear significance beyond the country, opposition Socialist-Párbeszéd prime ministerial candidate Gergely Karácsony and Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) head Christian Kern said at a joint press conference after talks in Vienna.

The outcome of the Hungarian election could also influence the future of Europe, Karácsony said during the press conference broadcast on SPO’s Facebook page.

“Orbánism is an illness in Europe” which is infecting an increasing number of member states and already shows signs in Austria, Karácsony said.

As the process is damaging for the whole of Europe, there is a pressing need for good relations between the left-wing parties of Hungary and Austria, he added.

Karácsony said the Orbán government’s policy for Europe involved “stealing EU moneys and then using some of the stolen money to incite hatred in Hungarians against the EU”. “They present the EU and Brussels as if they were enemies of Hungary,” he added.

Hungarians always wanted to belong to Europe, so ruling Fidesz’s campaign involving threats that Budapest will look like Vienna if migrants are allowed to settle will actually work in favour of the Socialists-Párbeszéd alliance, he said.

In response to a question concerning possible cooperation with radical nationalist Jobbik, Karcsony said “the enemy of my enemy does not automatically become my friend” and this applies to the relations between Hungary’s left and Jobbik.