Deputy Foreign Minister Levente Magyar said no one can be allowed to make disparaging remarks about Hungarians or their democratically elected government.
Magyar reacted to a now-deleted Facebook post by the CEO of Austrian public broadcaster ORF, Karl Pachner, who had said that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán dying of a heart attack would be a “fair thing”. Magyar told the Austrian charge d’affaires that the Hungarian government was convinced that a leading figure of Austria’s public media had made “especially harsh and outrageous comments” about Hungary’s democratically elected prime minister. Because of the overwhelming support behind the premier, Pachner’s comments could be seen as insulting to all Hungarians, he said. The diplomat distanced himself from the comments and expressed an intention to cooperate, he said. “However, I made it clear that if such comments are made in the future, this will not be enough to settle the issue,” Magyar said. “These words go beyond the civilisational norms that are allowed in Europe even in such a time of war.” Hungary strives for good relations with Austria, but will not allow Austria or any other foreign players to disparage Hungarians, their democratically elected government and its leader, he said.
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