PM admits his words ‘could be misunderstood’
July 30th, 2022As Prime Minister Orbán conceded that his choice of language on ‘mixed races’ could ‘lead to misunderstandings’, a pro-government commentator believes it is time to turn the page on the issue, while a left-wing columnist lambasts the Chancellor of Austria for not cancelling the Austria-Hungary summit.
Answering questions by reporters after his talks with Chancellor Nehammer in Vienna, Prime Minister Orbán said he ‘sometimes does use words that may be misunderstood’. He explained that his remarks on ‘mixed race’ were meant to express his opposition to mass immigration from outside Europe. (For the background to this issue, see BudaPost July 26 through 29).
In Magyar Nemzet, László Szőcs approvingly quotes the Prime Minister’s words expressing his pride in the results his government has achieved in its fight against racism. His statement about sometimes not using the best expression, Szőcs suggests, is a turning point: from now on, those who are earnestly interested in human rights, will turn the page. Those who after such a gesture of self-rectification continue their attacks on the Prime Minister, Szőcs believes, will just be playing a political game.
In Népszava, by contrast, Tamás Rónay lambasts Chancellor Nehammer of Austria for receiving the Hungarian Prime Minister in Vienna. The left-wing columnist acknowledges that Mr Nehammer publicly hinted at the divergences between the two governments but suggests that he should have cancelled the visit after Mr Orbán’s speech last Saturday. Rónay doesn’t ‘absolve’ Mr Nehammer on account of the undoubtedly real problem (that of illegal mass migration) the two statesmen were discussing in Vienna.