Membership in the EU's conservative political bloc is important, but not as important as defending "European Christian values and stopping migration," a Hungarian Fidesz party official has said.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Koszticsak
Advertisement
Hungary's far-right Fidesz party has shrugged off an ultimatum from the European People's Party (EPP) to avoid being jettisoned from European Parliament's conservative bloc.
"The defense of European Christian values and stopping migration is more important than party discipline," Hidveghi said.
In an interview published on Tuesday by German newspaper Bild, Weber had said Orban must stop the campaign against European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, apologize to EPP member parties, and allow the Central European University (CEU), which is backed by George Soros, to keep its headquarters in Budapest.
"Viktor Orban has the opportunity to move on these three points and show his appreciation for the EPP," said Weber, who aims to replace Juncker as European Commission president following EU elections in May.
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?"
Image: Reuters/K. Pempel
6 images1 | 6
Vote later this month
The EPP, founded in 1976, is made up of 52 parties, including Germany's Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and holds the largest share of seats in the European Parliament.
On Monday, 12 parties within the conservative bloc requested the expulsion of Orban and Fidesz from the group. The EPP is set to discuss Fidesz' membership at a meeting on March 20.
The move came after a series of measures that raised doubts within the EPP about Orban's commitment to EU values. Adding to the unease was a nationwide poster campaign in Hungary targeting Juncker, also of the EPP, accusing him and Soros of backing illegal migration.
