Hungary will not leave EU, wants to reform it, PM Orban says
Hungary will not leave the European Union but will resist attempts from Brussels to erode its sovereignty, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told his Fidesz party on Sunday.
Nationalist Orban, who faces a close parliamentary election next year for the first time in more than a decade, was re-elected chairman of Fidesz on Sunday.
"After communist bureaucracy ... we don't want new dictates this time from Brussels," Orban told cheering party delegates, adding Hungary would reject western liberalism.
"We will not give up the right to defend our borders, to stop migrants ... we insist that marriage in Hungary is between a man and a woman, a father is a man and a mother is a woman ... and they should leave our children alone."
In power since 2010, 58-year-old Orban has cast himself as a defender of Hungary's cultural identity against Muslim migration into Europe and a protector of Christian values against Western liberalism.
That has won him domestic popularity, especially among core Fidesz voters, but brought criticism from rights groups and LGBT campaigners.
Orban said the EU must be reformed and Hungary's aim was to achieve change, not leave the bloc that it joined in 2004.
"We don't want to leave the EU at all, they can't get rid of us so easily," he said. "We want to keep our sovereignty and we don't want to find ourselves in a united states of Europe, instead of integration."
In the election, likely in April 2022, Orban will face a united front of opposition parties including the Socialists, liberals and the formerly far-right, now centre-right, Jobbik.
The six-party alliance is led by Peter Marki-Zay, a 49-year-old Catholic conservative, father-of-seven and small-town mayor who seems to embody the traditional values Orban publicly champions and is seen as a tough challenger. nL8N2RI2T5
In the past weeks Orban has made a number of spending pledges, including a $2 billion income-tax rebate for families, and stepped up his anti-immigration rhetoric.
"After communist bureaucracy ... we don't want new dictates this time from Brussels," Orban told cheering party delegates, adding Hungary would reject western liberalism.
"We will not give up the right to defend our borders, to stop migrants ... we insist that marriage in Hungary is between a man and a woman, a father is a man and a mother is a woman ... and they should leave our children alone."
In power since 2010, 58-year-old Orban has cast himself as a defender of Hungary's cultural identity against Muslim migration into Europe and a protector of Christian values against Western liberalism.
That has won him domestic popularity, especially among core Fidesz voters, but brought criticism from rights groups and LGBT campaigners.
Orban said the EU must be reformed and Hungary's aim was to achieve change, not leave the bloc that it joined in 2004.
"We don't want to leave the EU at all, they can't get rid of us so easily," he said. "We want to keep our sovereignty and we don't want to find ourselves in a united states of Europe, instead of integration."
In the election, likely in April 2022, Orban will face a united front of opposition parties including the Socialists, liberals and the formerly far-right, now centre-right, Jobbik.
The six-party alliance is led by Peter Marki-Zay, a 49-year-old Catholic conservative, father-of-seven and small-town mayor who seems to embody the traditional values Orban publicly champions and is seen as a tough challenger. nL8N2RI2T5
In the past weeks Orban has made a number of spending pledges, including a $2 billion income-tax rebate for families, and stepped up his anti-immigration rhetoric.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
