Orbán cabinet rejects Handelsblatt claim that government criticism of Soros is of an anti-Semitic nature

Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács on Saturday rejected the claim published in an editorial in German daily Handelsblatt that the Hungarian government’s criticism of US billionaire George Soros is of an anti-Semitic nature.

In the editorial, Handelsblatt’s editor-in-chief Andreas Kluth wrote that “conspiracy theories about George Soros are spreading from Hungary,” and then linked them to the “vilest forms of European anti-Semitism”.

Kovács complained that a letter he wrote responding to the editorial was not published by Handelsblatt because the paper cited “press freedom”, so he posted the letter in full on his blog, abouthungary.hu.

In the letter, he stressed that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government never refer to Soros’ Jewish roots, adding that “interestingly, Soros himself talks little about it, emphasizing instead his American identity”.

“Kluth and the liberal, Soros apologists play the Jewish card in a desperate effort to smear those who dare to oppose Soros’ undemocratic, pro-immigration agenda,” Kovács said.

The “real issue at stake” is “respect for the will of the people”, he added.

“There’s a difference between working to bring down communist dictatorships, as Soros’ foundations once did, and actively working against democratically elected governments, as Soros and his network do today,” Kovács said.

Source: mti