European Parliament leaders condemn “blatantly racist” statements by Hungarian prime minister

The leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament (EP) have condemned the “openly racist” statements made last week by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, in which he assured that countries in which “the European population has mixed with non-European population” cannot be considered nations.

“Such unacceptable statements as these clearly constitute a breach of our values enshrined in the Treaties of the European Union and have no place in our societies,” the leaders of the EP blocs made known.

Orbán defended this week from Vienna the comments he made during his visit to Romania, where he stressed that Hungary is not a country of “mixed races,” and argued Thursday that it is not a problem of racism, but of cultural differences.

The signatories, in this regard, deeply regret “Orbán’s insistence on defending these inexcusable comments” and assure that “racism and discrimination in all its forms must receive unequivocal condemnation at all levels.”

For all these reasons, the MEPs call on the European Commission and the European Council “to urgently condemn this statement in the strongest terms.”

To the Council, in particular, they remind that the Member States “have an obligation to act together and put an end to all attacks on the enshrined values” and ask that “the issue be added to the agenda of the next meeting of leaders of the Community institution.”

On the Commission’s side, it is asked to “treat as a priority the ongoing infringement procedures against Hungary’s violation of EU rules prohibiting racism and discrimination and make full use of the tools available to address violations.”

Finally, the EP leaders call for “further action by EU governments and at EU level, including against the increasing normalization of racism and xenophobia, and we underline the need for a monitoring and accountability mechanism to ensure effective implementation of EU anti-racism legislation and policy.”