Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán called those in the European People’s Party seeking his party’s ouster from the group “useful idiots”.

Viktor Orban’s comments to Germany’s Welt newspaper Sunday come after calls within the center-right European People’s Party for his Fidesz party’s ouster after his government started an ad campaign seen to have anti-Semitic undertones portraying Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Such a campaign by the Hungarian government was criticized for promoting anti-Semitic views.

Orban rejected the allegations that were made at the expense of his government and party.

Hungarians don’t consider the posters anti-Semitic and I can’t do anything about the fact that George Soros is a Hungarian of Jewish origin, Orban said.

Orban said those calling for Fidesz’s ouster “are, in Lenin’s words, ‘useful idiots.’ While they believe they’re fighting in a spiritual struggle, in fact they’re serving the power interests of others — indeed, of our opponents.”