Orbán: Soros ‘world’s number-one oligarch’

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has called George Soros “the world’s number-one oligarch”, accusing the US financier of “influencing European politics via his mafia-style network”.

Orbán said in a radio interview that Soros’s network had been behind European Parliament moves to censure Hungary and Poland. He said Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party had been “an inch away” from leaving the European People’s Party (EPP) on Thursday.

Referring to the EP resolution on the rule of law in Hungary and Poland and broad EPP support for it, Orbán said the reason why Fidesz was so close to quitting was that the majority of the party family “betrayed us”.

He said the French, Spanish and Italian MEPs in the EPP, however, “were clearly on our side”, and in the debate they argued that the party family should stand up for Hungary. Given this backing, the prime minister said there was hope for a change in the EPP. “Hope is dwindling but it’s still there. Otherwise we would not be members this morning,” he said, adding that he would meet the Austrian and German chancellors, as well as EPP leader Donald Tusk before making a decision.

At the same time, this situation cannot remain as it is, he added. If the EPP does not stick up for Hungary, “we’ll have to launch a new European Christian-Democratic movement”. “We will have allies,” Orbán said.

Orbán said the outcome of the vote in Strasbourg had been unsurprising as the majority in favour of censuring Hungary were from the EP’s pro-migration wing. He added that the “Soros network” of groups allied to US financier George Soros was “very active in the EP and European politics”.

He called Soros “the world’s number one oligarch” who “influences European political life via a mafia-like network.”

On the topic of the new Austrian government, Orbán said that before the collapse of the first coalition government headed by Sebastian Kurz, he had anticipated a future in which parties to his right would work together on a Christian basis and that Austria would be quick to join such an initiative. But after the Austrian election, Kurz’s center-right party allied with the greens, reflecting two major challenges the world faces: migration and climate change.