Hungary's Orban challenges EU over Article 7 sanctions

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has condemned the European Union's effort to censure his government.

The move is part of a broader strategy to push back against criticism of his hard-line anti-immigration policies.

A video released by Viktor Orban's government is making waves in Hungary. It is an outraged shot fired against the European Parliament, with dramatic music playing in the background. "Do not give in to blackmail!" says the title, "Let's protect Hungary!"

The 25-second clip is Budapest's response to the European Parliament's Sargentini report, approved by a two-thirds majority of the body's members on September 12. The report accuses Hungary of serious rule-of-law violations and serves as the basis for the ongoing Article 7 proceedings against the country.

"The pro-immigration majority of the European Parliament wants to silence us, because we are protecting our home and Europe with a fence," exclaims the video. There are unflattering photos of two European Parliament members, the Dutch Greens' Judith Sargentini and Belgian Liberal Guy Verhofstadt. The background is complete with a blurred shot of the Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros.

Orban versus the EU

The video is part of the Orban government's ongoing information campaign, running on all pro-government media in Hungary. Government politicians have been making barbed, almost-daily attacks against the supposedly anti-Hungarian leaders of other European Union states. Above all, they have focused on French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Orban has personally accused Merkel of wanting to wrest Hungarian border control away from his government. His chief historian, Maria Schmidt, has written that the chancellor wants to complete the plans of Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler for the Germanization of...

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