Hard Line

Hungary’s Anti-Immigration Prime Minister Wins Third Term

Viktor Orban has said he believes refugees are “Muslim invaders.”

The right-wing prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, won a landslide election victory Sunday after campaigning on a heavily anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-EU platform. In a striking result that will encourage nationalist movements across Europe, Orban secured almost half of the vote and will go into his third term with a two-thirds majority in parliament. Orban’s election campaign revolved around a pledge to stop immigration and he has previously described refugees arriving in Europe as “Muslim invaders,” adding that integration is doomed to fail because “Christian and Muslim society will never unite.” At his final election rally Friday, Orban said: “Migration is like rust that slowly but surely would consume Hungary.” Anti-EU Brexit leader Nigel Farage welcomed Orban’s victory, saying he is “the strongest leader in Europe.”