Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a populist leader known for his hardline anti-immigration stance, said that the European Union's migration policies threaten the "sovereignty and cultural identity" of Hungary, in an interview published Monday.
"We don't see these people as Muslim refugees. We see them as Muslim invaders," he told the German daily Bild newspaper.
In the interview, he said Syrian refugees were not fleeing their home country — where a multi-sided war has been raging for almost seven years — out of fear for their lives.
Read more: Poland, Hungary say EU migration policy has failed
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Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
'Muslim invaders'
"We don't see these people as Muslim refugees. We see them as Muslim invaders," Orban said in a recent interview with German daily Bild newspaper. The 54-year-old prime minister of Hungary added: "We believe that a large number of Muslims inevitably leads to parallel societies, because Christian and Muslim society will never unite." Multiculturalism, he said, "is only an illusion."
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Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
'You wanted the migrants, we didn't'
When asked by Bild whether it was fair for Germany to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants while Hungary accepted none, Orban responded: "The difference is, you wanted the migrants, and we didn't." Migration, he said, threatens the "sovereignty and cultural identity" of Hungary.
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Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
'Migration is poison'
It was not the first time the Hungarian leader has framed migration as a problem for his country. In 2016, he said that 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." He added: "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.”
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Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
'Importing homophobia'
Orban has repeatedly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her decision to allow over a million migrants into Germany in the summer of 2015. Orban told Bild in early 2016: "If you take masses of non-registered immigrants from the Middle East into your country, you are importing terrorism, crime, antisemitism, and homophobia."
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Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
'All terrorists are basically migrants'
Orban has also repeatedly criticized the EU for trying to get member states to share refugees based on national quotas. In a 2015 interview with POLITICO, he suggested the bloc's leaders instead focus more on strengthening the EU's external border. In the same interview, he said: "Of course it’s not accepted, but the factual point is that all the terrorists are basically migrants."
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Viktor Orban's most controversial migration comments
'Parallel societies'
Orban has found allies in other right-wing governments in eastern Europe such as Poland that also oppose the EU's refugee policies. In an interview with Spanish TV channel Intereconomia in 2015, Orban raised fears about integrating Muslim migrants in the EU when he said: "What sort of Europe do we want to have? Parallel societies? Muslim communities living together with the Christian community?"
Author: Alexander Pearson
Instead, he said the decision of thousands of migrants to journey to richer western European countries like Germany while passing through less wealthy "but stable" countries like Hungary was proof that they could not be classed as refugees, but rather "economic migrants in search of a better life."
Orban also rejected the idea that Hungary should be open to accepting people from majority-Muslim countries, saying his country "doesn't want to be forced."
"We believe that a large number of Muslims inevitably leads to parallel societies, because Christian and Muslim society will never unite," Orban told the paper.
"Multiculturalism is only an illusion," he added.
Read more: Two against the EU — Hungary PM Viktor Orban visits Poland
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
Fleeing war and poverty
In late 2014, with the war in Syria approaching its fourth year and Islamic State making gains in the north of the country, the exodus of Syrians intensified. At the same time, others were fleeing violence and poverty in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Niger and Kosovo.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
Seeking refuge over the border
Vast numbers of Syrian refugees had been gathering in border-town camps in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan since 2011. By 2015, with the camps full to bursting and residents often unable to find work or educate their children, more and more people decided to seek asylum further afield.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
A long journey on foot
In 2015 an estimated 1.5 million people made their way on foot from Greece towards western Europe via the "Balkan route". The Schengen Agreement, which allows passport-free travel within much of the EU, was called into question as refugees headed towards the wealthier European nations.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
Desperate sea crossings
Tens of thousands of refugees were also attempting the perilous journey across the Mediterranean on overcrowded boats. In April 2015, 800 people of various nationalities drowned when a boat traveling from Libya capsized off the Italian coast. This was to be just one of many similar tragedies - by the end of the year, nearly 4,000 refugees were reported to have died attempting the crossing.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
Pressure on the borders
Countries along the EU's external border struggled to cope with the sheer number of arrivals. Fences were erected in Hungary, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria. Asylum laws were tightened and several Schengen area countries introduced temporary border controls.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
Closing the open door
Critics of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open-door" refugee policy claimed it had made the situation worse by encouraging more people to embark on the dangerous journey to Europe. By September 2016, Germany had also introduced temporary checks on its border with Austria.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
Striking a deal with Turkey
In early 2016, the EU and Turkey signed an agreement under which refugees arriving in Greece could be sent back to Turkey. The deal has been criticized by human rights groups and came under new strain following a vote by the European Parliament in November to freeze talks on Turkey's potential accession to the EU.
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How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
No end in sight
With anti-immigration sentiment in Europe growing, governments are still struggling to reach a consensus on how to handle the continuing refugee crisis. Attempts to introduce quotas for the distribution of refugees among EU member states have largely failed. Conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere show no signs coming to an end, and the death toll from refugee sea crossings is on the rise.
Author: Rachel Stewart
Germany 'wanted the migrants'
Orban also addressed the ongoing spat between Budapest and Brussels over a refugee resettlement quota, which Hungary and Slovakia unsuccessfully challenged at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
When asked by a Bild reporter why it was fair that Germany accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants while Hungary accepted none, Orban responded: "The difference is, you wanted the migrants, and we didn't."
He said in Bild that if the September ECJ ruling had fallen before the quota's validity was to run out, Hungary would have accepted the refugees.
Read more: The EU migrant relocation and resettlement scheme - what you need to know
The ECJ decision fell on September 6 while the European Commission decision mandating the quota system expired on September 26.
At the time of the decision, however, Hungarian officials rejected the ruling and decried it as political, with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto saying: "Politics has raped European law and values."
Orban also told Bild that it is "a double standard" that Hungary was the "only" country in the bloc that was criticized although the quota "wasn't implemented in over 20 countries."
According to the latest European Commission figures, only two EU member states took in no refugees under the quota system — Hungary and Poland. Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic took in a handful of refugees under the program.
A total of 22 countries involved in the resettlement scheme fell short of their "legal commitment." Although Germany took in more refugees than any other involved in the program with 9,169, it still fell short of its quota of 27,536.
Read more: EU sues Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland over low refugee intake
Orban has been ramping up his anti-migrant statements ahead of elections in Hungary this April.
The interview with Bild followed Orban's controversial appearance last Friday at the party conference of the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
Suffering from losses at the polls in last year's general election, the CSU has been calling for a tougher stance on immigration.
