Hungary, Dutch Leaders Warns Of Islamization of Europe
By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief, reporting from Budapest, Hungary
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A series of meetings in Poland and Hungary of CPAC, America’s largest conservative conference, has ended with Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders warning of the Islamization of Europe.
Wilders, whose Party for Freedom (PVV) became the largest political force 18 months ago, said the “Dutch are by nature a welcoming nation, but too many fake refugees who do not want to respect the indigenous culture and customs entered the country.”
He said Friday his fiercely pro-Israel party seeks to close the border for more asylum seekers, using the Dutch army to stop family reunifications for asylum seekers, who are mainly from Muslim nations.
He pledged that the PVV, the largest in a four-party coalition, wants “to return 60,000 refugees to Syria” as well as other “criminal foreigners.”
The politician added, “I walk the streets of Europe; they look like medieval streets full of burqas and hijabs. People feel strangers in their own homes.”
Wilders, who has faced numerous Islamic death threats and lives in secret locations with his Hungarian wife, referred to this year’s 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands after World War II, saying the center of the port city of Rotterdam was taken over by screaming Muslim Imams.
Their followers, he said, “were waving Al-Qaeda terrorist flags and were calling for the extermination of Israel. At the same time, Dutch flags were entirely absent, while Palestinian flags were all over the town’s neighborhoods.”
NOT EVERYONE EXTREMIST
However, “Not every Muslim is an extremist, most are not,” he stressed, “but too many of them are eager to stamp their mark of intolerance and conquest on our society.”
His remarks were applauded by delegates at CPAC, short for Conservative Political Action Conference, including populists and what critics view as far-right leaders.
They heard that the Muslim population is to triple from 5 percent to 15 percent by the middle of the century in European nations such as the Netherlands. “But I do not want Islam to rise. Islam and freedom are incompatible,” Wilders said.
“Polls show that 60 percent of Dutch citizens believe that Islam does not belong to our society”, which is based on Judeo-Christian traditions, he added.
Wilders’ remarks were music to the ears of his ally and friend, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who opened the gathering. Orbán, seen by critics as a right-wing authoritarian leader, spoke to an audience that also included Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement influencers and others with similar views.
Inspired by MAGA, launched by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, Orbán played a key role in establishing the Patriots for Europe, now the third-largest grouping in the European Parliament.
Orbán has said he wants to “Make Europe Great Again” by “defending its Judeo-Christian traditions.”
PRAISING PRESIDENT TRUMP
He praised President Trump’s first 100 days after returning to the Oval Office. “The Trump tsunami swept through the entire world,” Orbán told CPAC. “It gave hope back to the world. We are no longer suffocating in the woke sea.”
Before the Hungarian leader’s speech, Trump praised the gathering and Orbán in a video message from the White House.
“You know how I feel about Hungary, and you know how I feel about CPAC. I respect and love them both. I also want to pay special regard to the leader of Hungary, Viktor Orbán. He’s a great man and a very special person.”
Not everyone shares his enthusiasm: Rights groups and European Union leaders say Orbán has used his rightwing Fidesz party’s supermajority in the Hungarian parliament to “undermine” the independence of the judiciary, “crack down” on independent media, “demonize migrants” and “discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.”
Orbán denied wrongdoing and called those criticizing him a “threat to Hungary’s sovereignty.”
Orbán’s political ally Alice Weidel, chair of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party agreed, claiming that the media and political elites “fear us like no other party — with good reason.”
She accused the German domestic intelligence service of spying on her party, which authorities have accused of being extremist and far-right but which has been endorsed by U.S. Vice President J.D.Vance.
POLISH ELECTION CANDIDATE
At CPAC Hungary, Orbán also expressed support for Polish nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki in Sunday’s runoff in Poland, where a smaller CPAC gathering was held earlier in the week.
Additionally, Orbán revealed a plan” that he said should “transform” the European Union. “We want to take Europe back from migrants. We want a Christian culture, schools based on national principles,” Orbán said in his speech without elaborating.
He again rejected European Union membership for Ukraine, added he opposed joint European taxation or borrowing, and reiterated his stance on protecting national sovereignty.
To carry out his self-declared plan he needs allies including in Poland and therefore said: “Long live Nawrocki.”
In the latest polls, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the candidate from Poland’s ruling Civic Coalition (KO), was leading Nawrocki ahead of the vote.
He also embraced a nationalist presidential candidate in Romania’s recent elections, George Simion, despite his poor track record in treating the country’s ethnic Hungarian minority. Simion lost the ballot.
Orbán also welcomed former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis as a speaker at CPAC and endorsed the populist politician ahead of parliamentary elections scheduledfor early October.
TOUGH RACE AHEAD
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, another Orbán friend, also spoke at CPAC.
Sceptics said Orbán needs allies for his plan to bring Europe back to its Judeo-Christian roots and stay in power.
Orbán faces his toughest election challenge since he swept to power in 2010, with a new center-right Tisza party, named after Hungary’s second-largest river, leading in the polls.
Additionally, a growing number of EU nations want to suspend Hungary’s voting rights in the bloc, in a so-called “Article 7” procedure, amid the rule of law and corruption concerns.
Orbán has called the charges politically motivated.
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