Hungarian activist disrupts PM Orbán's press conference in Strasbourg

On October 8, Márton Gyekiczki, a Hungarian opposition party activist and municipal councillor, disrupted a news conference attended by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Strasbourg. 

The incident occurred ahead of Orbán's address to the European Parliament, amid ongoing tensions between his government and the EU over concerns regarding democratic rights and close ties with autocracies, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

As Orbán spoke against immigration, Gyekiczki rushed to the podium, throwing what appeared to be banknotes at the prime minister while shouting, “How much did you sell out the country for? How much did you sell out the country for, Mr. Prime Minister? He sold out to Putin, he sold out to Xi Jinping!”

Gyekiczki, a member of Hungary's Democratic Coalition party, was swiftly subdued by security.

Ference Gyurcsány, the party's president and former Prime Minister, expressed his pride in Gyekiczki's actions on social media, stating, “We will say it everywhere and always: Hungary has a traitorous government!"

During the news conference, Orbán warned of a declining EU economy, describing it as “the most serious challenge we have to face.” He also expressed opposition to new EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and cautioned that immigration was threatening the Schengen area.

He argued, “These individual attempts will actually break up the Schengen system,” and proposed a regular “Schengen Summit” for member states to discuss border policies.

In response to the disruption, Orbán remarked, “a word of explanation for Hungarian political culture.”

“When a Hungarian politician tells another one that he is a scoundrel, all it means in our culture is that ‘I disagree with you,’” he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev