Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has slammed the “lies and fake news” often reported about democracy in the nation, accusing Western liberal governments of viewing Hungary as a threat because it is run by conservatives who respect their country’s cultural and religious heritage.
In an interview with U.S. talk show host, Tucker Carlson, Szijjártó expressed his appreciation to Fox News and Carlson for showing the reality of the situation in Hungary.
“That is very, very rare,” he claimed. “We are usually faced by the lies and the fake news produced by the international liberal mainstream and your report about Hungary brings fresh air to us.”
Asked by Carlson why other European nations haven’t learned lessons from Hungary’s no-nonsense, effective border controls, Szijjártó revealed that many foreign ministers across the European Union member states are forced to act differently to how they may like to due to domestic pressures.
“I can tell you that whenever we have meetings of the foreign ministers in the European Union and whenever we discuss border protection, migration or security-related issues, the foreign ministers usually send text messages to me during the debate telling me that I am doing good and to keep on those things, and then I ask them at the end of the debate: ‘So my dear friends why didn’t you contribute also?’ And they say: ‘Look, back at home there are NGOs, liberal media, coalition governments, pressure, and so on and so forth.’
“So actually the reason why I think others cannot implement an honest policy on migration is they feel pressure by international liberal mainstream media, NGOs and political allies but in Hungary we have political stability, a two-thirds majority in the parliament, and so we have the luxury to say what we think and act accordingly,” the Hungarian foreign minister told the show.
Host Tucker Carlson echoed the view that the Hungarian way is “such a threat to our foreign policy establishment,” slamming the likes of Barack Obama and others as “hysterical morons” who hate Hungary and refer to it as a dictatorship.
“Why do you think it’s so threatening to them, this nation of 10 million people in central Europe?” Tucker asked.
“I think why they hate us is that we are conducting a patriotic, Christian-based policy,” responded the Hungarian minister. “The target of ours is to fulfill the national interest. We are conservatives and in the meantime we are successful, so basically our existence is a danger for them because what they say is that the only way to have a progressive successful political system is to be extremely liberal, and our existence makes it very clear that no, this is not the only way to be progressive, to be successful, to fulfill the interests of your nation.
“Our way is the conservative, patriotic, Christian, democratic way, respecting our history and religious heritage, respecting our values like family. This brings success also,” Szijjártó insisted.
The Hungarian foreign minister claimed the European Union elite and liberal progressives across the continent want to see Viktor Orbán and his governing Fidesz party beaten in the forthcoming election because they could then claim that “the liberal mainstream is the only successful ideology in the world.”
“They see you as a much bigger threat than China, which just tells you everything,” Carlson replied, warning Szijjártó that “they’re going to try and interfere in your election, as you know. Good luck!”
The U.S. talk show host’s warnings aren’t baseless. Over 60 MEPs penned a letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) this week, expressing deep concerns about the commitment of the Hungarian government to delivering a free and fair election, and calling for the deployment of EU officials to ensure democratic principles are respected.
Self-proclaimed European federalist, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, insisted that EU oversight of the Hungarian election was “absolutely necessary,” tweeting that “Orbán will play it dirty” and warning that European democracy was under threat.
