Anti-immigration rhetoric is running rampant across the globe, and Hungary’s prime minister is holding one of the many loudspeakers in the conversation. Ahead of a parliamentary poll on April 8, tens of thousands of people attended a rally in Budapest, where Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was campaigning for re-election as a member of Fidesz, a right-wing populist party. “There are some who want to take our country from us, to voluntarily hand over our country to others, to foreigners coming from other continents who do not speak our language and do not respect our culture, our laws, our way of life, people who want to replace what is ours with what is theirs,” Orban said at the speech. Orban scored a major victory in the national election, winning a third consecutive term in office. Immigration was at the forefront of his campaign, and with the prime minister’s zero-tolerance approach to immigration, Hungary will continue to enforce hardline border control. As a nationalist, Orban’s campaign was built upon the belief that immigrants put traditional family values at risk. The opposition countered such claims, but the parties were fragmented and unable to gain enough support to defeat the incumbent administration. In 2016, US President Donald Trump ran for office on similar anti-immigration rhetoric, and the number of migrants entering the country has since dropped. Despite this, Orban still believes the US has accepted too many foreigners, and he is pushing for a European Union of independent nations instead of a “United States of Europe.” This video from VICE News explores the recent election and the actions of opposition activists. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy. Photo Credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com
Videos
FO° Exclusive: $650 Billion a Year? The Numbers Behind the AI Boom Don’t Add Up
FO° Exclusive: Tensions Over Taiwan Push China and Japan Closer to Conflict
FO° Exclusive: Is the Ukraine War Ending on Putin’s Terms? Decoding Trump’s 28-Point Plan
FO° Exclusive: Global Lightning Roundup of November 2025
FO° Talks: Chile’s Political Reset: Mandatory Voting, Economic Crisis and a Right-Wing Wave
FO° Talks: America on Edge: ICE Raids, Campus Killings and the Rise of Political Violence
FO° Talks: The Future of Europe: How War and Migration Are Fueling Right-Wing Politics
FO° Talks: Sheikh Hasina Sentenced to Death: Inside Bangladesh’s Most Explosive Political Crisis
FO° Talks: How Is Social Media Shaping Public Perception of the Israel–Hamas War?
FO° Talks: Ukraine’s Rafale and Gripen Deals Overshadowed by Major Corruption Scandal
FO° Talks: Russia and China’s Hybrid Warfare Explained | What Are NATO and the EU’s Options?
FO° Talks: Andrej Babiš and Europe’s Political Divide: Populism, Corruption and the War in Ukraine
FO° Talks: Sudan’s Civil War Explained: RSF vs SAF, Darfur Crisis and Red Sea Geopolitics
FO° Talks: Regenerative Design and How To Keep Your Garden Slug-Free
FO° Talks: Here’s Why More Americans Need to Grow Their Own Food
FO° Talks: What Does Trump’s Japan Visit and Meeting with Xi Jinping Mean for the Indo-Pacific?
FO° Talks: Want to Save the Planet? Beavers Have the Answers
FO° Talks: Bolivia Turns Right: How Rodrigo Paz Ended 20 Years of Left-Wing Rule
FO° Talks: Trump’s 20-Point Peace Deal: Can Israel and Hamas Finally End the War?


