MADRID, 30 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament (EP) have condemned the “openly racist” statements made last week by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, in which he assured that the countries in which “the European population has mixed with non-European population” cannot be considered nations.
“Declarations as unacceptable as these clearly constitute a breach of our values ??enshrined in the Treaties of the European Union and have no place in our societies,” the leaders of the EP blocs have made known.
Orbán defended this week from Vienna the comments he made during his visit to Romania, where he stressed that Hungary is not a country of “mixed races”, and argued this Thursday that it is not a problem of racism, but of cultural differences.
The signatories, in this sense, deeply regret “Orbán’s insistence on defending these inexcusable comments” and assure that “racism and discrimination in all its forms must receive an unequivocal condemnation at all levels”.
For all these reasons, the deputies call on the European Commission and the European Council “to urgently condemn this declaration in the strongest terms”.
To the Council, specifically, they remind that the Member States “have the obligation to act together and put an end to all attacks on the enshrined values” and request that “the issue be added to the agenda of the next meeting of leaders of the institution community”.
On the Commission’s side, it is asked to “prioritize the ongoing infringement procedures against Hungary’s violation of EU rules prohibiting racism and discrimination and make full use of the tools available to address violations.
Finally, EP leaders call for “further action by EU governments and at EU level, including against the growing normalization of racism and xenophobia, and underline the need for a monitoring and accountability mechanism to ensure the effective application of EU anti-racism legislation and policy”.
