Ion Țiriac, a former Romanian tennis player, businessman, and sometimes political commentator, gave an interview in the print edition of iamsport.ro, where he said Romania needs a leader like Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán or former Polish President Lech Walesa, according to the Mandiner news portal. 

“It would be nice if I had an Orbán, it would be nice if I had a Lech Walesa,” said the former athlete. Țiriac also asked who he could count on to stand by him. 

“Someone who can stand up to Brussels and says: Wait a minute. I am the border of Europe,” he said. 

Viktor Orbán has often argued that being a border country to the EU presents very specific risks and challenges regarding migration and that the EU should be grateful to Hungary for keeping so many migrants out. Instead, Brussels has slapped Hungary with a €1 million daily fine for not accepting migrant quotas, a move that has become more and more of an embarrassment as EU member states scramble to close their borders themselves due to their social systems being overburdened by migrants and migrant crime levels rising to unprecedented levels. 

As to Romania’s Ion Țiriac, the 86-year-old athlete concluded his comments by saying, “You made fun of me, you called me incompetent (…) if you were better than me, you would have come here and done something, since we are already a Union of European States.” 

Figures elsewhere have also called for their “own” Orbán, with the founder of  Junge Freiheit, Dieter Stein, writing a commentary commending Orbán for successfully building a conservative network in Europe, including Germany’s own AfD.

Stein commends the Hungarian leader’s political acumen, pointing out that Orbán recognized the need for greater conservative cooperation and actively worked to achieve this. He also gives Orbán credit for paving the way for the AfD’s success on the European stage.