Legendary Hungarian-American business magnate George Soros said he feels "more than ready to fight back" against the ideology of "nationalism," while speaking to the Financial Times.
"It's déjà vu all over again with one big change — the dominant ideology in the world now is nationalism," Soros, who is largely seen as the adept of "globalism" claimed, dubbing Russia "the resurgent power" and warning that the EU is "on the verge of a breakdown."
Recently the billionaire has come under heavy criticism from Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and American conservatives. However, the magnate believes that Russia is behind much of the attacks against him. According to Soros, Moscow dislikes him over his support to the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili since the times of the so-called Rose revolution of 2003.
In 2015, The Russian Prosecutor General's Office banned Soros' Open Society Foundations and its affiliates as "undesirable groups," threatening the country's national security.
READ MORE: Failed Prediction: Three Major Mistakes in George Soros' 2017 Russia Prognosis
However, the magnate denies his involvement in regime change operations in Georgia, Ukraine and recent protests in Macedonia.
"We were not involved in the actual fighting — that's against our guidelines and principles," Soros told the media outlet while commenting on the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution. "But we were supporters of the fighters and that was also during Maidan."
The legislation requires foreign institutions registered in Hungary to provide educational services in the countries of their origin and prohibits them from granting Hungarian diplomas in the absence of an official agreement between Budapest and the country of accreditation.
While the CEU is accredited in the US, it does not provide educational services there, making it easy prey for the new law. Simultaneously, Budapest kicked off "National Consultation 2017," targeting dozens of the magnate-linked non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country.
READ MORE: 'Mafia Network': Why Hungary Becomes a Thorn in the Side of George Soros
The standoff between the billionaire and the Hungarian prime minister got new wind in June 2017 after Soros accused Orban of establishing a "mafia state." The Hungarian official's response was not long in coming: "The only network which operates in mafia ways, which is not transparent… in Hungary is the Soros network," Orban told state radio.
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Besides Hungary, Israel has voiced its concerns over George Soros' foreign activities in July 2017.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry underscored in an official statement that the billionaire is continuously undermining Israel's democracy.
"George Soros… continuously undermines Israel's democratically elected governments by funding organizations that defame the Jewish state and seek to deny it the right to defend itself," the foreign ministry stated.
In an apparent effort to fight back against his foreign "enemies," most of whom belong to conservative and rightwing parties, the billionaire boosted investments in his Open Society Foundation (OSF), although he had previously planned to wind the organization down before his death.
In October, Soros poured additional $18 billion to OSF, thus making it the largest charitable organization ever, with his total transfers amounting to $32 billion.
