European Parliament denounces Orbán’s ‘openly
racist’ speech
Leaders of the body’s main political groups urged the
bloc to continue withholding funds from Hungary.
BY ILYA
GRIDNEFF
July 29,
2022 7:42 pm
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-parliament-condemns-orbans-racist-anti-europe-speech/
Leaders of
the European Parliament’s main groups on Friday castigated Hungarian Prime
Minister Viktor Orbán’s “inexcusable statements” on race and Europe, urging the
bloc to continue withholding funds from the country.
The
statement, approved Friday evening, came from the Parliament’s Conference of
Presidents, which includes leaders of the legislative body’s various political
groups, as well as Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
“We, the
leaders of the Political Groups of the European Parliament, strongly condemn
the recent openly racist declaration by Prime Minister Orbán about not wanting
to become ‘peoples of mixed race,'” read the statement.
Obrán
shocked European leaders last weekend when he declared that countries were “no
longer nations” if different races blended together. On Tuesday, one of the
prime minister’s longtime advisers, Zsuzsa Hegedüs, quit over his remarks.
“There is
no place for racism, discrimination and hate speech in our societies,” the
Parliament statement said. “We call for further actions by EU Governments and
at EU level, including against the increasing normalisation of racism and
xenophobia.”
So far,
however, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, has remained mum on
the issue, declining to comment directly. The Commission rarely comments on EU
leaders’ political statements and doesn’t have many mechanisms to challenge
rhetoric.
The
Parliament leaders argued, however, that Orbán’s remarks did, in fact,
contravene the EU’s foundational treaties’ language on racism and
discrimination.
The
statement urged the EU “make full use of the tools available to address
breaches of values enshrined in Article 2.”
Specifically,
the leaders called on the Commission to continue withholding pandemic recovery
funds from Hungary. The money is currently stalled over separate EU concerns
about corruption in Hungary. The request is not binding, however.
“Such
unacceptable statements, which clearly constitute a breach of our values, also
enshrined in the EU Treaties, have no place in our societies,” the leaders
declared.
In his
speech, Orbán said migration had split the West, arguing that countries where European
and non-European people mingle “are no longer nations: they are nothing more
than a conglomeration of peoples.”
The
proclamations provoked ire across Europe. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan
Aurescu called the statements “unacceptable.” Former Hungarian Prime Minister
and opposition leader Ferenc Gyurcsány called Orbán a “tragedy.”
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