Transylvania, Romania

A prominent Jewish community organisation on Tuesday (July 26) voiced alarm and concern over Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's remarks against creating " peoples of mixes race". The 59-year-old ultra-conservative prime minister said this during a speech in Romania. Orban was speaking in Romania's Transylvania region, which has a large Hungarian community. During his speech, he criticised mixing with 'non-Europeans".

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International Auschwitz Committee, which counts several Holocaust survivors as its members, said Orban's speech was "stupid and dangerous". The committee further called on the EU to continue to distance itself from "Orban's racist undertones and to make it clear to the world that Mr. Orban has no future in Europe."

Christoph Heubner, vice-president of the organisation, said that Orban's speech reminded Holocaust survivors "of the dark times of their own exclusion and persecution". He was quoted by AFP.

Heubner called specifically on Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer to make a stand when he hosts Orban on an official visit to Vienna on Thursday.

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"We do not want to become peoples of mixed-race," Orban said on Saturday.

Orban is known for his anti-migrant policy. In past, he has made similar remarks.

Hungarian government appeared to be in damage control mode as Zoltan Kovacs, the governemnt spokesperson, said that Orban's speech was 'misinterpreted' by those who "clearly don't understand the difference between the mixing of different ethnic groups that all originate in the Judeo-Christian cultural sphere, and the mixing of peoples from different civilisations"

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Orban also appeared to make allusion to Nazi gas chambers during speech connecting it to European Union's plan to reduce European gas demand by 15 per cent.

"I do not see how it will be enforced -– although, as I understand it, the past shows us German know-how on that," he said.

Jewish community in Hungary has also criticised Orban's speech.

"There is only one race on this Planet: the Homo Sapiens Sapiens," chief rabbi Robert Frolich wrote on Facebook.

Zsuzsa Hegedus, Orban's advisor has handed in her resignation over what she termed was his "shameful position". She called the speech "a pure Nazi text," according to news outlet HVG.

In response, Orban stressed "his government's policy of zero tolerance when it comes to anti-Semitism and racism", according to a letter that was made public.

(With inputs from agencies)

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