Hungary Cannot 'Yield' to EU, Stop Defending Christian Values, Endorse Migration

15:19 GMT, 6 March 2019

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is known to be one of the most vocal anti-immigration advocates in Europe and has categorically opposed the idea of accepting refugees from other European countries under migrant resettlement schemes proposed by the European Union.

Sputnik

The Hungarian government will not abandon its anti-migration stance after the European People's Party called on Budapest to stop its anti-EU rhetoric, spokesman Zoltan Kovacs wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.

"We listen to other opinions, including (EPP group leader Manfred) Weber's," Kovacs said. "But more important than party discipline are the defence of European Christian values and stopping migration. On this, we cannot yield."

The official's comment follows earlier reports that the European People's Party (EPP) candidate for the EU Commission presidency urged Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to "immediately and permanently end his government's anti-Brussels campaigns."

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Orban, one of the European Union's staunchest opponents of mandatory migrant resettlement quotas and defenders of traditional Christian values, has repeatedly said that Hungary wants to gain an anti-immigration majority in EU institutions, including the European Parliament and the European Commission.

The European Union has faced an increased influx of migrants since 2015. The increased number of arrivals has caused some disagreements within the bloc. Italy, which often serves as the country of first entry, has complained of being overwhelmed. At the same time, Hungary and Poland have objected to the idea of every EU member taking in a certain number of refugees to relocate them from the country of arrival.