Hungary’s foreign minister has called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to resign after he accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of xenophobia and racism.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein should step down and his comments were unacceptable.
“This is unacceptable from an official of an international organization; an unworthy and appalling accusation. The high commissioner should resign,” Minister Szijjártó said.
The high commissioner said that “today oppression is fashionable again; the security state is back, and fundamental freedoms are in retreat in every region of the world. Shame is also in retreat. Xenophobes and racists in Europe are casting off any sense of embarrassment – like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán who earlier this month said ‘we do not want our color… to be mixed in with others'”. Do they not know what happens to minorities in societies where leaders seek ethnic, national or racial purity?”
Minister Szijjártó said that this was not the first time the high commissioner had made “accusations against Hungary” or had tried to make “Hungary appear as if it had the characteristics of the darkest of dictatorships.”
According to MTI, he had told the session that Hungary’s position was unambiguous: migration is not a basic human right. “We will protect our borders and we will make every effort to ensure our position is crystal clear in the UN debate on migration,” the foreign minister said.