PM Orbán held talks with head of Spain’s right-wing VOX party – UPDATED

Santiago Abascal, head of Spain’s VOX party, visited Hungary and met Prime Minister and ruling Fidesz’s leader Viktor Orbán in Budapest on Thursday, Orbán’s press chief said.

The meeting with the leader of the Spanish Christian-democrat party which opposes multiculturalism and migration was also attended by Fidesz deputy leader Katalin Novák, Bertalan Havasi said.

The sides were in agreement that parties promoting the freedom and traditions of European nations that represent many million European citizens dedicated to traditional values must have their voices heard in the debate recently started about the future of Europe, Havasi said.

Europe needs national sovereignty, border protection, proper family policy and respect for cultural roots,

they added.

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Protecting the European Union’s external borders and lifting internal border controls will “remain a priority” after the coronavirus pandemic recedes, with a view to restoring free movement within the community, Katalin Novák, minister without portfolio and deputy head of ruling Fidesz, said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Röszke border station together with Santiago Abascal, head of Spain’s Vox party,

Novák highlighted Vox as a “notable voice against migration”. Controlling the external borders will “guarantee security for us all”, she added. Abascal said his party was seeking cooperation with other parties of the same standpoint that “protecting the borders is key for our future”.