Elena Lasconi does not like the opinion of the Hungarian prime minister.
Elena Lasconi, president of the Save Romania Alliance (USR) and head of state candidate, would even ban Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from Romania because of his opinion.
The president of the left-liberal party spoke about this in an interview with the Digi 24 news channel. The interview will be shown over the weekend, but it was primarily advertised with statements about Viktor Orbán.
According to the channel, Lasconi stated that he opposes Orbán's "revisionist" statements, and that if he becomes president of Romania, he will "have a serious conversation with him."
Lasconi was primarily thinking of Orbán's statements made at the Bálványosi Summer Free University and Student Camp organized at Tusnádfürdő.
"I oppose Prime Minister Orbán's statements, he is a controversial personality who seems more pro-Russian if you ask me. I would talk to him, but I would be very firm. Such statements have no place in Romania," said Lasconi, although it is not clear from the conversation what kind of statements he is referring to. When asked what he would do if Orbán "relapses", he said: he would take the necessary measures.
In response to the question of whether this means banning the Hungarian Prime Minister from Romania, he stated that it depends on the nature of the statements.
"Depending on the statements that were made, yes, I think I could apply to be declared a person undesirable," Lasconi stated.
The president of the USR appears to be much more intolerant of views that differ from his own than the Prime Minister of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, who refused to condemn his Hungarian colleague in July. At a press conference, Ciolacu was questioned by journalists about Orbán's statements in Tusnádfürdő, above all about the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia, and his criticisms of the European Union.
They were primarily interested in how the Romanian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would comment on the findings that Russia is "a country under hyper-rational leadership, in contrast to the West, whose behavior is neither rational nor predictable". "That's his business. Did he say anything about Romania?” Marcel Ciolacu asked back at his press conference.
To the journalist's comment that the Prime Minister of Hungary made these statements in Romania, the Romanian Prime Minister asked again: "And what should I have done with him? Do you think I should have banned him from entering the territory of Romania?" Ciolacu added that, as far as he knows, his Hungarian official colleague made similar statements in Brussels and Budapest.
"It is not my job to comment on his statements," said the Romanian Prime Minister.
Ciolacu recalled that he discussed economic issues with Orbán in Bucharest at his informal meeting in July. He reminded that Hungary is Romania's third most important trade partner in the EU. He added that the Romanian government will keep its word and will indeed start the high-speed rail project connecting Budapest with Bucharest; as a first step, a feasibility study of the investment will be prepared. When asked how much this investment will cost and when it will be ready, the Prime Minister stated: "What matters is not how much it costs, but what multiplier effect this investment will have on the Hungarian and Romanian economies," he stated. and Marcel Ciolacu.
Cover photo: Facebook/Viktor Orbán
