Hungary PM wins third term on anti-immigrant platform
Hungary’s anti-immigrant prime minister Viktor Orban basked on Monday in the glory of an election triumph that delighted other nationalists but sent a chill through civil society groups and portended fresh battles with Brussels.
Near-complete results showed that Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party romped home with 48.8% votes, highly likely giving it a two-thirds majority and a legislative carte blanche.
Addressing ecstatic supporters in Budapest late on Sunday, Orban said the “destiny-deciding victory” gave Hungarians “the opportunity to defend themselves and to defend Hungary”.
His win, which decimated a cautiously optimistic opposition and was even more crushing than expected, followed strong election performances from other parties portraying themselves as anti-system such as in Italy, Austria and Germany.
Congratulations from allies poured in for Orban, long a thorn in the EU’s side, who styles himself defender of Christian Europe against the “poison” of immigration and the “globalist elite”.
Building razor-wire anti-migrant fences on Hungary’s borders with Serbia and Croatia, Orban has railed against what he says are the dangers to European culture and security posed by mass Muslim immigration.
During the most recent election campaign he ramped up his attacks on financier and philanthropist George Soros as the malign mastermind of a “global elite” seeking to flood Europe with foreigners.
At the same time, Orban has cultivated friendly ties with President Vladimir Putin, seeking to emulate what he calls Russia’s “illiberal” democracy. AFP
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