BUDAPEST - US financier George Soros spoke out about a Hungarian government campaign against him for the first time on Monday, saying in a statement that the attacks contained "lies and distortions" and were designed to create a false external enemy.
Soros, a Hungarian by birth whose views have been squarely at odds with the ruling Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said Budapest was "stoking anti-Muslim sentiment, and employing anti-semitic tropes reminiscent of the 1930's."
He rejected the seven statements in a "national consultation" conducted by Orban's government, which claim he wants to settle a million migrants a year in Europe, force them to resettle among EU countries and pay them each thousands of euros.