London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

'Shameful and rude': Orban slammed over remark on Bosnia's Muslims

'Shameful and rude': Orban slammed over remark on Bosnia's Muslims

When asked about Bosnia’s bid to join the EU, Orban's spokesman Zoltan Kovacs tweeted the PM’s response: “The challenge with Bosnia is how to integrate a country with 2 million Muslims.”
Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has been denounced by Bosnian officials and religious leaders after he claimed integrating the country into the European Union would be a challenge because of its Muslim population.

Orbán was giving a speech in Budapest on Tuesday, lines of which were tweeted out in English by his spokesperson.

When asked about Bosnia’s bid to join the EU, his spokesman Zoltán Kovács tweeted the PM’s response: “The challenge with Bosnia is how to integrate a country with 2 million Muslims.”

Orbán, during his speech, said that Hungary supports Bosnia’s effort to join the EU, but added that “how we manage the security of a state in which 2 million Muslims live is a key issue for their security too,” referring to other EU states.

Some in Bosnia responded by calling for Orbán's official visit to Sarajevo to be cancelled, with the head of the country's Islamic Community, grand mufti Husein Kavazović, calling his statement “xenophobic and racist”.

“If such ideologies become the basis on which the policies of a united Europe are based, then it takes us back to the times when European unity was to be built on similar fascist, Nazi, violent and genocidal ideologies that led to the Holocaust and other horrific crimes,” he said in a statement.

The Bosniak member of the country’s tripartite presidency, Šefik Džaferović, called Orbán's statement “shameful and rude”.

“It is not a challenge for the EU to integrate 2 million (Bosnian) Muslims because we are an autochtonous European people who have always lived here and we are Europeans,” he said.

Bosnia, with its three main ethnic groups — Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats — is going through its worst political crisis since the end of the civil war in the 1990s.

With tacit support from the likes of Russia and Serbia, Bosnian Serbs are threatening to form their own army, judiciary, and tax authority that would see state powers diminished while bolstering those of the Republika Srpska, a Serb-dominated entity or administrative unit, reviving fears of fresh conflict.

More than 100,000 people were killed and millions left homeless during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia when Bosnian Serbs created a para-state ethnically cleansed parts of the country's territory with the aim to join them with neighbouring Serbia.

The US-sponsored 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, doubling as the country's de-facto constitution, put a stop to the war between the three sides, but also created a complex political system thought to be one of the most complicated in the world.

The most recent moves by Dodik are seen by many as an attempt to secede the Republika Srpska by unraveling the checks and balances put in place by the peace deal.

During his speech on Tuesday, Orbán also said Hungary wouldn't support EU sanctions against Bosnian Serb leader and member of the state-level threeway presidency Milorad Dodik as threatened by Germany and some other member states because of his separatist stands.

“Sarajevo has lost its nerve, it is attacking everyone — Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, now Hungary. Not to mention Russia,” Dodik said on Wednesday, referring to the support he has allegedly received from those countries.

A far-right populist, Orbán has been known for his anti-migration policies, claiming Muslim migrants are the greatest threat to Europe’s Christian values.

Long-standing claims of questionable practices by Orbán and his government have resulted in the European Commission sending a formal letter to Hungary in mid-November in a bid to further investigate mounting rule-of-law concerns.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×