On Friday, President Klaus Iohannis was the first to react to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s scathing speech in Beile Tusnad, saying it was deeply wrong for a European leader to put forward such a theory about race. The head of state asked for clarification from the UDMR, whose leadership applauded Orbán’s speech: “We cannot pretend that these things were not said.”

Iohannis made these statements while answering questions at a joint press conference held together with the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu.

He said that “it is a big mistake and unacceptable for a high-ranking European dignitary to appear on the public stage with a speech based on the theory of races”:

• “This is a big mistake, and it is unacceptable for a high European dignitary to make a speech based on the theory of races.
• This is a theory of the saddest possible memory, and in no case can it be accepted that a high dignitary put forward such a theory. (…)
• This is wrong and unacceptable, regardless of the stage from which such a speech is made. The fact that this scene was in Transylvania is a problem for us.”

Public clarifications from UDMR are needed

The president also noted that the UDMR should come up with public clarifications, given that the leadership and members of the party were at the event in Beile Tušnad, where Viktor Orbán gave a speech that provoked criticism of the West:

• “I believe that there is a need for public clarification of the UDMR, because a significant part of the UDMR leadership was present at that event.
• They will have to explain whether they agree with the content of the speech they applauded, or whether they misunderstood it and applauded as a whole.
• Whatever the explanation, it must exist.”

Iohannis also said that a clarifying discussion should also take place in the government coalition:

• “No one wants to cause a government crisis because a high-ranking foreign dignitary gave the wrong speech, but we can’t pretend that those things weren’t said, just as we can’t pretend that the things that were said weren’t applauded.”
• Kelemen Hunor, the reaction after Viktor Orbán’s speech: I firmly state that there is not a drop of racism in it

Viktor Orban’s statements, which caused a stormy reaction in the West

Viktor Orbán caused a wave of indignation with his recent statements at the Beile Tušnad Summer School.

Among other serious statements from the register of xenophobia and racism, Orbán called for peace talks in Ukraine, citing the failure of the EU strategy, and said that Budapest does not agree with the announced intention to reduce gas consumption (n.red). – the decision of the EC was announced later).

Also, the 59-year-old leader of Hungarian nationalists, a regular participant in controversial statements against migrants, rejected the vision of a “multi-ethnic” society.

• “We don’t want to be a mixed race,” mixing with “non-Europeans,” he said, before making an apparent allusion to the Nazi regime’s gas chambers, prompting sharp criticism from the Jewish community and the resignation of a consultant.

What the Prime Minister of Hungary said in Beile Tušnad, according to the official translation:

• “The most acute problem remains demographic. There are more funerals than births. (…) The second challenge is the migration phenomenon, which has divided Europe in half. The phenomenon of migration has divided Europe in half.
• Simply put, the West has disintegrated, split in two. On the one hand, we have countries, nations, where there are Europeans and non-Europeans living together. Those states are no longer nations, they are conglomerates of peoples.
• We can no longer talk, I say, about the West, we are talking about a post-Western structure, and according to the rules of mathematics, there will be a big demographic change.
• In this part of our continent (…) the percentage of non-European population will increase to more than 50%. And we have another side of Europe, Western, Central and Eastern Europe, that is, it is about us. I don’t want to cause confusion, but I still say that in a spiritual sense the West has entered our region.
• Here we have the West, there we have a post-Western structure and there is a struggle between the two parts of Europe. So, we made an offer to the post-Westerners, we told them “leave it to us to decide who we want to be neighbors with and who we want to live with.” The post-Western people rejected this offer and said, “No, we will turn you into what we are or have become.”
• Migration is less talked about now, but believe me, nothing has changed. Brussels and the Sorority teams just want to force us to accept migrants.”

“Cultural point of view”

During a visit to Austria on Thursday, Orban defended a scathing speech he recently gave in Romania against “race mixing”, saying he was speaking “from a cultural point of view”, AFP reported.

• “Sometimes I speak in a way that can be misunderstood, but I asked the chancellor (Karl Nehhammer – note) to put the information in a cultural context.
• In Hungary, these expressions and phrases represent a cultural, civilizational point of view,” said the Prime Minister of Hungary.

After his return to power in 2010, Viktor Orbán transformed his country by implementing “illiberal” reforms based on “protecting Christian Europe.” He has particularly attacked migrants from Africa and the Middle East and the NGOs that come to their aid, increasing access to asylum and erecting border fences.