An anti-migrant video set in Vienna has been pulled off Facebook for breaking community guidelines. In the video, a Hungarian official warned migrants allegedly pushed "white Christians" out of a Vienna neighborhood.
The video showed Lazar speaking to the camera in a neighborhood in the Austrian capital, Vienna, as he warned that migrants were responsible for pushing "white Christians" out.
"Disorder is much higher, there is much more dirt and litter in the streets and the few Viennese still living here say that crime is a lot higher and people are living in bigger fear," said Lazar in the video. "If we let them in and they live in our cities, the result will be crime, poverty, dirt and impossible conditions in our cities."
Contrary to Lazar's remarks, Vienna is ranked one of the top cities in terms of quality of lifeImage: imago
'Totally made up'
After Facebook removed the video, Lazar posted a screenshot of it, saying it has been taken down for violating the social media platform's community guidelines.
In Vienna, local politicians criticized Lazar's video, saying it amounted to a "totally made up nightmare image" of the city, which regularly among the best cities for quality of life globally.
The Social Democrats, which govern the city with the Greens, demanded an apology from Lazar for what they described as a "racist and xenophobic election strategy" aimed at "incitement against certain groups."
Janos Lazar claimed that a neighborhood in Vienna has "more dirt" and "disorder" due to migrantsImage: picture-alliance/AA/Hungary Prime Ministry Press Office
Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused Orban of being part of a group of "xenophobes and racists in Europe" who "are casting off any sense of embarrassment." Al-Hussein cited Orban's comments earlier that month when he said Hungarians "do not want our color … to be mixed in with others."
The Hungarian government later called on al-Hussein to resign. On Tuesday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto branded the UNHCR an "extremist pro-immigration" body. "We are taking off our globes … we will step into battle and we will not let a single illegal immigrant into Hungary," he added.
But al-Hussein replied that he stands "by every single word" he said. "Hatred is a combustible force; and it will not win — not in Europe; and not today."
Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
Hungary's right-wing prime minister has been one of Europe's leading voices against migration into the EU. Unafraid of controversy, he has described migration as an "invasion" and migrants as a "poison."
Image: Reuters/B. Szabo
'Muslim invaders'
"We don't see these people as Muslim refugees. We see them as Muslim invaders," Orban said in a recent interview with German daily Bild newspaper. The 54-year-old prime minister of Hungary added: "We believe that a large number of Muslims inevitably leads to parallel societies, because Christian and Muslim society will never unite." Multiculturalism, he said, "is only an illusion."
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir
'You wanted the migrants, we didn't'
When asked by Bild whether it was fair for Germany to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants while Hungary accepted none, Orban responded: "The difference is, you wanted the migrants, and we didn't." Migration, he said, threatens the "sovereignty and cultural identity" of Hungary.
Image: Reuters/L. Balogh
'Migration is poison'
It was not the first time the Hungarian leader has framed migration as a problem for his country. In 2016, he said that Hungary "does not need a single migrant for the economy to work, or the population to sustain itself, or for the country to have a future." He added: "for us migration is not a solution but a problem ... not medicine but a poison, we don’t need it and won’t swallow it.”
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/P. Gorondi
'Importing homophobia'
Orban has repeatedly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her decision to allow over a million migrants into Germany in the summer of 2015. Orban told Bild in early 2016: "If you take masses of non-registered immigrants from the Middle East into your country, you are importing terrorism, crime, anti-Semitism, and homophobia."
Image: Reuters/L. Balogh
'All terrorists are basically migrants'
Orban has also repeatedly criticized the EU for trying to get member states to share refugees based on national quotas. In a 2015 interview with POLITICO, he suggested the bloc's leaders instead focus more on strengthening the EU's external border. In the same interview, he said: "Of course it’s not accepted, but the factual point is that all the terrorists are basically migrants."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Bozon
'Parallel societies'
Orban has found allies in other right-wing governments in eastern Europe such as Poland that also oppose the EU's refugee policies. In an interview with Spanish TV channel Intereconomia in 2015, Orban raised fears about integrating Muslim migrants in the EU when he said: "What sort of Europe do we want to have? Parallel societies? Muslim communities living together with the Christian community?"
