The Hungarian Prime Minister has called for anti-immigration politicians to take over the EU as he warned of two civilisations in Europe – “one mixed Islamic and one Christian”.
Viktor Orban, who won a third consecutive term in April with an electoral campaign based on anti-immigration policies, on Thursday called for “anti-immigration forces” to become a majority in all EU institutions.
He said there would be two civilsations in Europe, one “that builds its future on a mixed Islamic and Christian coexistence” and another in Central Europe that would be only Christian.
"In the next 15 to 20 years, as well, migration will be the most important question of fate on the continent and, within that, Hungary," Mr Orban told reporters.
Mr Orban also said that he had "great hopes" for budding cooperation between Italy and Poland, both of which oppose immigration, and said he continues to view hard-line Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini as "my own hero."
Mr Salvini was in Warsaw on Wednesday in an attempt to forge an alliance with Poland's ruling populists ahead of the European Parliament elections in May, expressing hopes that an "Italian-Polish axis" would replace the current "French-German axis."
While Mr Salvini said he and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland's ruling party leader, agreed on most issues, Polish officials seemed to signal some reservations over a closer relationship with Mr Salvini, who is seen in Poland as too friendly to Russia.
During his news conference Thursday, Mr Orban deflected questions on corruption, repeating his defense that he does not involve himself with business matters, and refused to address the growing wealth of his friends and family.
Lorinc Meszaros, a childhood friend who until a few years ago worked as a gas fitter, was named last month by the Hungarian edition of Forbes magazine as Hungary's wealthiest person, with an estimated fortune of over $1.3 billion.
