Against the background of a controversial speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that “racial discrimination” is not compatible with the values of the Union. “All member states, including Hungary” have committed themselves to “universal common values”, said von der Leyen in an interview published on the Slovak news portal aktuality.sk on Saturday.
In a statement, the leaders of the largest groups in the European Parliament described Orban’s statements as “openly racist”. Von der Leyen did not mention Orban personally in the interview, but emphasized that the common values of the EU are “non-negotiable”.
Racially discriminating against people means “trampling on these values,” said the Commission President; the EU is “founded on equality, tolerance, fairness and justice”. A spokesman for the Commission had previously said with regard to Orban’s speech that the authority never commented on statements by European politicians.
In a speech last Saturday, Hungary’s national-conservative head of government reiterated his rejection of a “multi-ethnic” society and said: “We don’t want to be a mixed race” that is “mixed” with non-Europeans. Orban also caused outrage with a Holocaust allusion towards Germany.
Almost all leaders of the parliamentary groups represented in the European Parliament “strongly” condemned Orban’s statements in their statement on Saturday. They called on the European Commission and the European Council to “strongly condemn” the words of the Hungarian leader. Only the leadership of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) opposed the declaration, according to parliamentary circles.
The International Auschwitz Committee called Orban’s comments “stupid and dangerous”. EU Vice President Frans Timmermans warned on Twitter that racism had “no place in Europe because our strength is based on diversity”.
