Commenting on the recent statements by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Fidesz summer academy in Băile Tușnad, Romania, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

"The recent comments by the Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán have alarmed and shocked not only Auschwitz survivors in Hungary. The fact that Viktor Orbán is now adding racist positions to his right-wing populist and anti-European politics further proves that Orbán is now consciously trying to sever all ties with the values of the European Union. For this reason, the survivors of the Holocaust view his statements as hollow, ignorant and dangerous:

They remind them of the dark times when they themselves were targeted with exclusion and persecution. The absurd petty-minded theories of the Hungarian head of government are adding grist to the mill of all racist and right-wing forces in Europe.

In a few days, as the first of his European colleagues, Austria’s Federal Chancellor Nethammer will be meeting Mr Orbán in Vienna. He will have the opportunity to tell Mr Orbán exactly how his racist trips into the past and the future of Europe are being rated within the European Union. The European Union will do well to continue its massive opposition to Orbán’s ongoing basic racist tenor. By clearly distancing itself the European Union can show the world that Mr Orbán has no future in Europe."