Facebook has deleted the recording of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s speech at the Peace March from public M1 news television’s page, as reported by hirado.hu. Facebook justified the decision by claiming that the video shared symbols associated with individuals and organizations deemed dangerous, and glorified and supported such individuals and organizations.
Speaking on the matter, Zoltán Lomnici Jr, spokesman for the Civil Union Forum (CÖF), the organizer of the Peace March, said that the removal of an EU prime minister’s speech is a
blatant interference in internal affairs.
He added that social media platforms like Facebook often pay no taxes in Europe, and their data collection methods are also a cause for concern.
According to the legal expert, these companies are implementing a form of censorship that violates fundamental EU rights, as access to information in the public interest is a basic right.
The Peace March, the latest in the series of mass demonstrations in support of the governing parties held since 2012, was held in Budapest on Saturday, with Viktor Orbán giving a speech on Margaret Island. The motto of this year’s Peace March was ‘Hungary should remain an island of peace.’
‘We are Europe’s largest peacekeeping force’
At the beginning of his speech, the PM addressed the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, who have been waiting for the end of the war for two years, living in its shadow and deprived of their rights. ‘We are with you,’ PM Orbán said, adding that the day is not far off when their fate will change for the better.
He also sent a message to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot five times in an assassination attempt in May. He said Fico was attacked because he stood for peace, but that he would return.
Orbán recalled the last Peace March, which took place just two years ago, before the April parliamentary elections in 2022. He noted that Fidesz achieved its greatest victory over the left back then. Speaking about the forthcoming European Parliament elections, the prime minister said people who stand for peace must be sent to Brussels.
He went on saying that Fidesz has won every election since 2006,
they are the best campaigners, and they have the ‘largest electoral army.’ The PM noted that there have never been so many people supporting peace, stating: ‘We are Europe’s largest peacekeeping force.’
‘We have order and strength, while on the other side there is violence and chaos,’ PM Orbán pointed out.
Orbán underscored that there is a great need for the strength of the pro-peace forces, and every vote for Fidesz-KDNP is worth two because, in his words, it will strengthen Hungary, which is not at war. ‘We can only stay out of the war if Hungarian voters strengthen the government,’ he added.
‘Pro-war politicians must be defeated, not persuaded,’ he said.
PM Orbán also posed the rhetorical question: will we [in Europe] give up peace? He stated that giving up peace means dying for Ukraine, and ‘we will not die for others on foreign soil.’ The prime minister emphasized that where war sets foot, there is no escape. ‘Do we want to shed blood for Ukraine? No, we do not,’ he underlined.
‘The only antidote to war is peace, and Hungary must be preserved as an island of peace. This is our mission,’ Orbán concluded.
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