Hungary Right-Wing Ruling Party Plans Run Against ‘Soros Plan’
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, preparing for elections next April, promised on Thursday to highlight what it called a plan by billionaire financier George Soros to bring millions of migrants into Europe.
Fidesz asked Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government to carry out a “national consultation” about Brussels’ plans to distribute asylum-seekers in the EU, a week after the EU’s top court ruled against complainants Hungary and Slovakia.
Previous such consultations have taken the form of sending out questionnaires to millions of voters, setting out the government’s right-wing nationalist position and asking people if they agree.
Soros, a Hungarian-born Jew who has spent a large part of his fortune funding pro-democracy and human rights groups, has been targeted by Orban’s government repeatedly. His spokesman has described the government’s portrayal of his views on immigration as “fantasy.”
Orban has been one of the loudest opponents of mandatory migrant resettlement quotas proposed by the EU, arguing this would undermine its sovereignty and social fabric. His stance has gone down well with voters, and Fidesz is firmly ahead in opinion polls.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO