Illegal migrants must be deported and Europe’s borders sealed shut, following the “unprecedented” attack in Berlin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said.
“It is unprecedented that in the heart of Europe, Christians were murdered at Christmas”, Orbán said in an interview published Saturday, speaking about the terror attack in Berlin, in which a Tunisian migrant ploughed a truck into a crowd of people at a Christmas market on Monday.
“It’s clear that, in the case of migration, nothing can remain the way it was before. Brussels needs to change, migrants who entered Europe illegally must be deported, the borders need to be protected and the inflow of migrants has to be eliminated,” the Fidesz statesman told Veszprém online newspaper.
Reflecting on the year, Orbán hailed it as one in which a democratic “revolt” took place in the West against political leaders “who refused to listen to the people”.
“Rebellion actually took place in the world’s two model democracies” Orbán said, noting, “A year ago no one would have believed that the UK would withdraw from the European Union (EU), or that Americans would reject the Clinton clan.
“This will continue in 2017, which will be the year of revolt for European democracy” the Hungarian leader predicted, echoing his remarks last week.
Hungary and other countries in Central Europe “have had the opportunity to learn from Western Europe’s mistakes”, Orbán stated, and promised to defend his country from “life-threatening, irresponsible” diktats from Brussels including “mass immigration”.
“Hungary is a stable island in the turbulent western world because the people were consulted on their opinions here, and we defended the country against illegal immigration.”
The Prime Minister said Western Europe’s attempts at integrating non-European migrants have “obviously been a failure” despite it being decades since the policy of importing foreigners en masse began.
The result, he lamented, is that “in many cities in Western Europe people now have no peace of mind, crimes against women rapidly multiply and the terror threat skyrockets.
“This shakes the confidence and self-esteem of the Western world. The economic slowdown, crime, terrorism, migration, indecision and insincere speech all adds up, and Western leaders won’t provide the answers.”
This will have serious consequences,” Orbán warned.
A far cry from the rhetoric of leaders in Western Europe, the Prime Minister’s Christmas message was patriotic. He reflected on his government’s incredible economic successes in the past year but, outlining goals for 2017, the Hungarian leader said: “The most difficult task is to awaken the people’s sense of pride, because they themselves are responsible for the successes we have achieved.”
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