Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke with the V4N4 news agency following his meeting with American President Donal Trump, and welcomed the fact that the United States again have a strong leader in charge. The meeting caused a lot of anguish among the shared political opponents of the two conservative leaders and Orban acknowledged this fact.

We are both working under great pressure, we receive a lot of criticism for not governing according to the liberal media’s preferences, and we are successful. There are people who don’t take this well. My first time at The Oval Office was in 1998, then again in 2001. I clearly remember my first visit. Journalists were condemning the president back then, too: the difference was that the critiques were then triggered by the scandals of President Clinton’s private life. But now the president is in the crossfire for important political decisions, such as immigration and the issue of Chinese trade tariffs. What is the most obvious is that, after many years, the US has a strong president again, who is not afraid of thinking outside the box to find new solutions. He has the required courage and commitment to find new ways, Prime Minister Orban said.

The meeting went well after the scheduled time and Orban says this is due to the severity of issues both the United States and Europe face.

The President was interested in everything happening on the old continent today. We discussed the strong tendency to build a socialist Europe, both ideologically and economically. Higher taxes, more bureaucracy, stricter censorship, less competition. The competition-centred economic policies of Central European countries oppose this. We in Central Europe have already lived through socialism, and we know exactly that it destroys everything. If one wants to know something about Europe today, they should turn to the Hungarians. We live on the fault lines of cultures and civilizations, said the conservative Prime Minister.

Both leaders are notable for their opposition to open borders policies. According to Orban, both in the US and in Europe the policy is driven by left wing parties who are attempting to improve their poor electoral results by importing new voters.

We discussed the threats of migration in detail, and also that Europe today cannot fully guarantee the security of its citizens. In my opinion, this process has one cause: the left-wing is importing voters from outside European borders in an attempt to ensure its political survival. And the new development is that parties considered right-wing are co-operating on this question as allies. I believe this is against the interests of our countries and brings problems to European life that will have severe consequences. Today, there are people who are encouraging such perverse coalitions in Europe after the 26 May elections. A European pro-migration grand coalition is being formed. We assess the threats posed by migration the same way, said Orban, who is considered the leader of the European movement to ensure any migration is conducted lawfully.

Another issue where Orban and Trump found a shared position, and it showed during their joint meeting with the press, when Trump praised Orban for his support for persecuted Christians worldwide.

We discussed European security. We discussed Christianity being under siege worldwide, including in Europe, and how this needs to be expressed. President Trump thanked us for helping persecuted Christians. We do not donate to international humanitarian groups: we help Christian communities directly. I also mentioned that we have recently renovated 14 Lebanese Christian churches, 19 further renovations are underway, and we are operating a scholarship program for the children of Christian families, Orban told the V4N4 news agency.