London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

Hungarian PM Orban’s trip to UK sparks protests from Labour & Liberal Democrats, ignites debate online

Hungarian PM Orban’s trip to UK sparks protests from Labour & Liberal Democrats, ignites debate online

The visit of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban to the UK on Friday has led to protests from within the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, as well as sparking debate online. The government has vowed to have “UK interests” in mind.

Labour Party MP Zarah Sultana wrote a letter, asking UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “cancel the plan to welcome [Orban] to Britain.”

She tweeted that the Hungarian leader “should not be welcomed” in the UK due to his controversial statements that include “attacks on migrants [and] other minorities.”


In a similarly worded letter, Liberal Democrat MPs Ed Davey and Layla Moran asked Johnson to “commit to challenging” Orban on issues including migration, freedom of the press, and the rights of women and LGBT.


“Will Boris Johnson challenge the Hungarian PM on his appalling track record? I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy wrote on Twitter.

In an op-ed for the Times, author John Kampfner wrote that Orban was “the antithesis of everything the Western world should stand for.”

Orban, who assumed the role of prime minister in 2010, has been a vocal critic of EU migration policy. During the height of the European refugee crisis of the mid-2010s, he fought against the attempts of the European Commission to force Hungary into accepting and settling asylum seekers from the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Hungary does not need a single migrant for the economy to work, or the population to sustain itself, or for the country to have a future,” Orban said in 2016, according to AFP.

“For us migration is not a solution but a problem... not medicine but a poison, we don’t need it and won’t swallow it,” he said.

In 2018, Orban told the German Bild newspaper that he saw people coming from Muslim countries as “Muslim invaders,” rather than refugees. A high number of Muslims leads to the creation of “parallel societies,” he said, adding that “multiculturalism is just an illusion.”

The European Commission and human rights groups have criticized Orban’s Hungary for the erosion of the rule of law.

The PM was also criticized by local Jewish groups for installing billboards across Hungary that targeted George Soros, a US-based financier of Hungarian Jewish origin, who invests a sizable portion of his wealth in various progressive causes around the globe. The billboards showed a grinning Soros next to the words, “Don’t let Soros have the last laugh.”

A spokesperson for Soros said at the time that the PR campaign against the billionaire was “reminiscent of Europe’s darkest hours.”

The Hungarian government, meanwhile, argued that by funding Hungarian NGOs, Soros was meddling in the country’s affairs.

A spokesperson for Johnson told reporters that Friday’s meeting with Orban will “promote UK interests” in Europe. “On all human rights issues we do not shy away from raising them, the PM has condemned those specific comments which were divisive and wrong,” the spokesperson said.

UK Secretary of State for Business Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News that while he does not support Orban’s views on migrants, it would be “irresponsible” not to develop relations with the European nation.

“In this post-Brexit world I think it’s absolutely right for us to be building bilateral relations with countries in the EU. I think it’s completely reasonable to do that,” he said.

People on social media were split on Orban’s visit. Some denounced the Hungarian PM as an “extreme right-wing leader,” and accused him of anti-Semitism.

Others pointed out that Orban is an elected leader of an EU country, and argued that he “just stands up for his own people.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
×