Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban upped the ante in his
political fight against George Soros, the mega-rich financier and
philanthropist who reportedly just ploughed $18 billion into his “Open Society”
foundation, the controversial NGO that is seldom shy about manipulating
domestic policy in Western capitals.
Last week,
Orban commented in an interview with Kossuth Radio that he has instructed his
intelligence agencies to expose Soros-backed initiatives, which include opening
up EU borders to mass migration, and the Hungarian nationals who support them
both in Budapest and in Brussels.
“By employing
the national security services, the Soros network that strives to influence
European life should be exposed,” Orban said. “Another question is who are
these Hungarians who are participating in this process from here, within
Hungary?”
According to
Orban, individuals connected to Soros are members of the European Parliament
and other institutions that comprise the 28-member bloc. Orban believes these
officials are not representing the views of the European people, but rather
that of the Soros "empire," working to create “a Europe of mixed
population.”
Orban has
staked much of his political career on making Hungary a “migrant-free zone,”
going so far as erecting a
barbed-wire fence along its southern border with Serbia. This position - which
remains highly popular among his constituents - has nevertheless put him on a
collision course with Soros, the Hungarian-born billionaire who said in June
that Orban was running a "mafia state."
Needless to
say, that comment did not sit well with Orban, who said the remark amounted to
a "declaration of war."
"The
only network which operates in mafia ways, which is not transparent... in
Hungary is the Soros network," Orban was quoted as saying.
"This is why we must insist, and I personally insist on having a
parliament decision on making these organizations transparent."
Transparency,
however, is exactly where the Open Society - which funds a vast
network of global organizations, including Black Lives Matter affiliations and
Antifa - falls short of the mark, which opens it up to all sorts of criticism.
Viktor Orban,
however, is not alone in his fight against the ultra-liberal ideology of George
Soros and the EU. Together with Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, highly
conservative, Christian countries that make up the so-called Visegrad Group,
Hungary is challenging Brussels over its highly controversial policy of
allowing millions of migrants - mostly escaping the (Western-made) war zones in
the Middle East and Northern Africa - to flow into the EU unimpeded.
It would be
no exaggeration to say the standoff has reached the boiling point and even
jeopardizes the stability of the EU project itself.
In September,
after the European Court of Justice rejected the Hungary and Poland's appeal
against being forced to take in refugees from Greece and Italy, Budapest’s
foreign minister Peter Szijjarto called the ruling
”appalling and irresponsible."
"This
decision jeopardises the security and future of all of Europe. Politics has
raped European law and values,” Szijjato continued.
There has
been a revival of sorts for right-wing nationalist parties across Europe, which
was energized by the
euphoria over Austria's Sebastian Kurz, 31, whose center-right People’s Party,
a Christian Democratic party, emerged victorious in mid-October elections. The
victory was attributed to the anxiety many Austrians feel about migration
policies, which put a strain on budgets, while opening the door to potential
terrorists.
Orban’s
Fidesz party, which has capitalized on those very same fears, has experienced a
surge of support, pulling nearly 40
percent support among registered voters. Incredible as it may seem, Hungary
could become even more right-leaning, as the radical nationalist Jobbik is
predicted to take second place in next year's balloting.
Perhaps it's
time for the EU to meet Orban somewhere 'near the border' that now divides the
continent - both politically and geographically.