Support for Orban came from figures including Marine Le Pen, Matteo Salvini, Andrej Babis and Polish lawmaker Krzysztof Bosak at a gathering of the euroskeptic Patriots for Europe group in the Hungarian capital.
Le Pen of France’s National Rally called Orban a “visionary leader and pioneer” and told Hungarian voters: “You, Hungarian voters, will also be pioneers on April 12”.
“Viktor, your courage is born of the certainty that you act in the interest of your nation”, she said. “Your unwavering loyalty to the nation gives you the strength to resist pressure and blackmail”.
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said in Hungarian that “Viktor Orban is a true hero”.
Bosak, deputy speaker of Poland’s lower house of parliament, said: “For years we were told that Hungary, Poland and other countries of the region should submit to the globalists”.
“Today the situation is different, Europe needs our common sense”, he said. “Globalists are destroying the security, prosperity and identity of Europeans”.
Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders said it was “an honor to support such an excellent leader, dear friend Viktor Orban”, adding: “Your prime minister is like a lion on a continent ruled by sheep”.
Spanish Vox leader Santiago Abascal said Orban had shown “that everything is possible” and urged Hungarians not to let “puppets of Brussels” steal what they had achieved.
Orban, closing the event, said the Patriots intended to “take and transform Brussels”.
“We want a Union that is an alliance of sovereign nations. We do not want a federation, we do not want an ‘ever closer union’. We want sovereign, proud European nations”, he said.
“Those you see here today will be the leaders of the European Union in three years”, Orban added, arguing that Brussels’ liberal elite was weakening while European Patriots were growing stronger.
The Patriots for Europe group, created in 2024, now has 84 lawmakers in the European Parliament, including two from Poland.
(jh)
Source: PAP