A longstanding adviser to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán who resigned last week has warned him that his far-right rhetoric could have tragic consequences.
The Hungarian leader sparked a backlash at home and abroad with a recent speech in which he spoke out against “race mixing”. Soon after, Zsuzsa Hegedüs, a sociologist who has known Orbán for 20 years, handed in her resignation, criticising the prime minister for what she called a “pure Nazi” speech.
“I am a Jew. And our generation’s job is to stop anything like this because we have seen what happened. Not just with Jews. In Rwanda as well. Ethnic hatred leads to genocide,” said Hegedüs in an interview with the Observer.
Orbán’s speech came at a showpiece annual gathering in Romania last weekend, which the Hungarian leader often uses to make important announcements. During his speech, he said mixing between Europeans was acceptable, but Europeans mixing with non-Europeans created “mixed race” people.
“We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed race,” said Orbán. He added that western European countries where this was seen as acceptable are “no longer nations”. » | Flora Garamvolgyi and Shaun Walker in Budapest | Saturday, July 30, 2022
