Orban rallies EU ‘illiberal’ forces for elections

Bloomberg

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, emboldened by the surge of right-wing parties across Europe, called for a united front by “illiberal” forces to win control in next year’s European Parliament elections.
Having solidified his rule at home in the past eight years and reelected in April, Orban set his sights on wider dominance for his version of “Christian democracy”, that he sees opposed with multiculturalism and liberal values.
“There’s a general shift toward the right in the whole of Europe”, Orban told an ethnic Hungarian audience in Baile Tusnad, Romania, citing votes in Italy and Austria.
“We must focus all our attention on the European elections of 2019. It’s high time the European elections were about one serious common theme, immigration.”
The Hungarian premier renewed his attack on the European Commission after similar remarks in a radio interview, where he dismissed the bloc’s executive as a lame duck.
He said the commission’s concerns about Hungary’s migration and non-government organisation policies will soon cease to be relevant as its mandate expires.
His remarks in Romania follow a string of key pronouncements Orban has made at the event as he has tightened his grip on Hungary.