“The Hungarian Government will not back down a single step, and will protect Hungary’s security with all its strength”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday in reaction to comments by the French Government’s Minister for European Affairs.

In an interview published in L’Obs magazine, Nathalie Loiseau said a historic battle must be fought against Hungary because Hungary is on the wrong path and the European radicals must be stopped. In her opinion the rule of law is in danger in Hungary: the state reduction of press pluralism is problematic, and the judicial system is also under threat.

In his statement, Mr. Szijjártó wrote that the French Government’s minister is openly attacking and showing contempt for Hungary. “The French politician wants to tell the people of Hungary how they should live and is not prepared to accept the fact that the Hungarians have elected Viktor Orbán and his Government for a third time with a two-thirds majority at democratic elections”, he added.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister added that the pro-immigration French minister calls the French Government progressive, while clearly viewing the Hungarians as lagging behind. “It seems that the French Government regards values such as security, border protection and Christian culture as outdated, but the Hungarians are insisting on these values and “we would not like to rush into an abyss, into which the so-called progressives are rushing at extremely high speed”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“This truly is a historic battle, but the Hungarian Government is picking up the gauntlet, will not back down a single step and will defend Hungary’s security with all its strength, even if it finds itself outnumbered, because Hungary is not France’s colony”, he declared.

“The battle will be decided by the people of Europe at next year’s European Parliament elections”, the Minister noted.

(MTI)