THE FAR-RIGHT GOVERNMENT OF HUNGARY has launched further verbal attacks on Finland, continuing months of hostile language from the Orban administration in response to Finland's strong stance against Hungary's clampdown on civil liberties and an escalating corruption situation.
Zoltán Kovács, Orban's official spokesman, launched an extraordinary broadside against the Finnish government, alleging that Finland “doesn’t have a constitutional court, an independent judiciary or press freedom" and that "it also shows signs of other serious problems as well”, as reported in The Guardian this afternoon. Kovács also remarked that there are "petrifying" levels of female genital mutilation in Finland and that religious minorities face a "grave threat" across the country.
Finland consistently ranks near the top of the global league tables when it comes to press freedom and social wellbeing, suggesting that these latest remarks are another example of what has become characteristically hostile, misleading, and superlative language from the Hungarian government, whose rapid slide into authoritarianism is well-documented.
Finland has been one of the most vocal opponents of the actions of the Orban government since assuming the EU presidency in July.
Image Credit: Lehtikuva
