French President François Hollande is the latest leader to attack Hungary after saying he “would not like” a society like in Hungary or Poland.
His comments came in reply to his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy’s opinion suggesting that Poland and Hungary remain operational democracies after fifty years of communism and it cannot be argued that democracy is absent in the two countries.
Sarkozy, who is expected to be the presidential candidate of the conservative Les Républicaines party at the 2017 election, said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde that democracies remain operational in the two Central European nations.
“We cannot say that democracy is absent in Hungary. This is a contradiction of French elites, always wanting to lecture the entire world. I saw the Kaczyński brothers in power in Poland. They respected European rules and stepped down from power when defeated. Following fifty years of communist subjugation, these are operational democracies. They also have to face a large-scale problem by confronting a very significant migratory pressure. The failure of Schengen weighs down upon them primarily. Would you like the Berlin Wall to be rebuilt?," Sarkozy said.
Following these comments, President François Hollande said that he could "see [that] a former president of the Republic thinks that what’s happening in Hungary and Poland is wonderful. Well, no, I don’t want a society like this”.