Leftist opposition criticises Orbán over “anti-EU” remarks

Budapest, June 27 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán should stop pursuing his “anti-EU” policies and cancel the government’s national referendum on mandatory migrant quotas to be held in the autumn, the opposition Democratic Coalition said on Monday.

“With the referendum Hungary, too, may end up finding itself outside the EU,” a spokesman for the leftist party said.

Zsolt Gréczy criticised the prime minister for his remarks at a graduation ceremony of officers over the weekend, accusing Orbán of misunderstanding Brexit.

Orbán, who campaigned in the British press for the UK remaining in the bloc, stroke an opposite, anti-EU tone in his weekend speech, Gréczy said, in reference to the prime minister praising the British for “taking their fate back into their own hands”.

“Orbán may have failed to realise that Britons are not celebrating the referendum’s outcome at all, given that uncertainty and an economic crisis are to follow,” he added.

Gréczy criticised Orbán for being cynical in saying that in the future, countries which maintain order, provide security and uphold legality will have an advantage.

Orbán made his remarks as prime minister of a country where the chief prosecution is led by a “Fidesz crony”, where issuing fictitious state bonds worth hundreds of billions of forints goes unpunished and where corruption surrounds the sale of local council flats, said Gréczy.

The opposition Liberal Party has also criticised Orbán for his “very controversial” statements regarding the European Union. Gábor Fodor, the party’s leader, told a press conference on Monday that he had circulated a letter among lawmakers, asking them to confirm their commitment to the EU in light of the UK’s Leave vote. He added that Orbán should give a clear answer to where he stands on Hungary leaving the union, as his recent statements have been ambiguous.