He was also denounced by the International Auschwitz Committee after comments in the same speech were interpreted as a joke about the use of gas chambers against Jews in Nazi Germany. Orban told a crowd that Europeans do not want to mix with people from outside the continent. “That’s why we’ve always fought: We’re willing to mix with each other, but we don’t want to become a people of mixed race,” Orban said. He warned that “Islamic civilization” is “continually advancing towards Europe” and that in the future “those we do not want to let in will have to stop [Hungary’s] western border’, regardless of the country’s membership of the Schengen Area of open borders to 26 European countries. Hegedus, one of Orbán’s closest aides, said the speech contradicted her values and made her position untenable. She added that Orbán’s drive towards authoritarianism during his 12-year tenure as Hungary’s prime minister had previously eroded her support. “You cannot be serious about accusing me of racism after 20 years of cooperation. You know better than anyone that in Hungary my government follows a policy of zero tolerance for both anti-Semitism and racism,” Orban said in response, according to a letter posted on Twitter by his political director Balazs Orban. But the leader’s speech has sparked an angry reaction across Europe, with critics of his regime demanding EU leaders openly condemn the right-wing prime minister. “Orbán continues to have a seat at the European Council table and veto powers to undermine Europe’s sovereignty… Unfounded, unacceptable, anti-European,” wrote Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and senior European Parliament official. Twitter. “Orbán is carefully cultivating a more palatable image in Brussels/abroad. Many conservatives who happily pose with him would never publicly support such far-right extremist rants,” Hungarian MEP Katalin Cseh added in a tweet. In another section of the speech, Orbán was accused by Cech and others of retracting the Nazi regime’s use of gas chambers during the Holocaust. Discussing the European Commission’s agreed target for its 27 member states to cut gas demand by 15% between August and March next year, Orban said: “I don’t see how it will be enforced — although, as I understand it, the our past shows German know-how in this.” CNN has reached out to the Hungarian government for comment. In a statement on Tuesday, the International Auschwitz Committee condemned Orban’s remarks as “foolish and dangerous”. They said Auschwitz survivors and others were “disturbed and horrified” by his speech. Throughout his tenure, Orbán has overseen a process of democratic backsliding and has made comments about immigrants and multiculturalism that have been condemned by fellow Europeans. Last year, he criticized the anti-racist kneeling gesture by soccer teams from several countries, saying he agreed with Hungarian fans who condemned the act. He has argued against EU migrant quotas, putting the issue to a referendum in 2016, which was dismissed by international watchdogs as a gimmick. However, Orban has received strong support from some American conservatives and is expected to speak at next month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas despite his remarks on Saturday.
