The Hungarian leader also repeated his opposition to EU membership for Ukraine.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday vowed to crack down on a “shadow army” of political opponents, journalists, judges and activists in the country, who he said were working for foreign powers.
In an inflammatory speech at a party rally in Budapest marking Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Austrian rule, Orbán compared his political opponents to “insects” that have “survived for too long.”
He accused “politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-NGOs and political activists” of taking “corrupt dollars” at the expense of their own country, and he vowed to “eliminate the entire shadow army.”
The Hungarian leader has taken a hard line in EU talks to support Ukraine — and a decidedly softer stance on Vladimir Putin’s Russia — vetoing an EU push to replace U.S. military aid for Ukraine earlier this month and forcing the remaining 26 EU leaders to issue their conclusions without him.
On Saturday, Orbán reiterated his criticism of the European Union’s military support for Ukraine, and his opposition to a Ukrainian accession to the EU.
“The rulers of Europe decided that Ukraine must continue the war at all costs, and it will get a fast EU membership in exchange, using our money. We can only have one answer to that: a Union but without Ukraine,” he said.
The comment echoed a list of the things Hungarians want from Brussels, which Orbán published earlier on Saturday. That wishlist included a “strong veto” for national governments, halting migration, the removal of what he said were “Soros agents” in the European Commission and peace in Europe, as well as a “Union without Ukraine.”
Hungary is set to hold a general election next year, and Orbán’s incendiary comments may have been fueled by election heat. The Tisza party of Orbán’s ally-turned-rival Péter Magyar could pose a real threat to Orbán’s Fidesz party, after a steep climb in the polls for Tisza.
Though Fidesz remained the largest party in last year’s European Parliament elections, it clocked its worst-ever EU election result as Tisza took 30 percent of the vote. This year, both parties have been polling at around 40 percent, with Tisza pulling ahead in recent polls.
