‘No time’ for EU allies’ criticism: Hungary PM

BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday he has "no time" for scathing criticism by EU allies of sweeping powers he took on this week to tackle the coronavirus threat.

Thirteen European centre-right parties urged their European Peoples Party (EPP) political group to expel Orban´s Fidesz party after he assumed emergency powers on Monday. Orban insists he must rule by decree to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic. But many, including some of his allies in the EPP, accuse him of a power grab gone too far.

"With all due respect I have no time for this," said Orban in a letter to EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White posted on Twitter by one of his ministers Katalin Novak.

"I can hardly imagine any of us having time for fantasies about the intentions of other countries. This seems to me to be a costly luxury these days," he wrote. "I am ready to discuss this once the pandemic is over," he added.