Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the right-wing nationalist leader of Hungary, slammed what he called the "undemocratic" states of Western Europe, again pressing his vision of a Christian and “illiberal" continent.
"There is liberalism in the West, there is no democracy," Orban told a gathering of ethnic Hungarians during a trip to neighboring Romania.
He said censorship has “become common place" in Western Europe and that countries there have imposed "restrictions on freedom of expression.”
Orban specifically targeted the European Commission as a "symbol of failure."
"The European Commission is going, we are coming," he said of the EU institution that proposes legislation and implements decisions and treaties, along with managing day-to-day business.
Orban said next year's European Parliament elections would be dominated by "one serious common theme -- immigration."
Orban called on right-wing parties to combine forces to "focus all of our attention on the European elections of 2019" and place migration at the top of the agenda.
"Christian democracy is not liberal...It is illiberal, if you like," said Orban, who was elected in April to a third-consecutive term.
He said the EU’s political "elite" had failed to protect Europe from Muslim immigration.
He said “Christian democracy” rejects multiculturalism and immigration and is anticommunist while standing for Christian values.
Orban has taken a leading role among EU figures opposed to immigration. Hungary has fenced off its border and passed a series of laws against migrants and has opposed the operations of migrant-aid organizations.
