Zoltán Kovács said in the past ten years the Hungarian government has been continuously in the crossfire of criticism – among others – from Western European press outlets and from left-wing and liberal groups in the European Parliament.

The comment came during a episode of the BBC’s flagship interview programme, Hard Talk. 

Rather than worrying about criticism from foreign agitators, the Government of Hungary has prioritised “the health, security and interests of the Hungarian population”.

Kovács added that during the epidemic Hungary has so far managed to avoid the problems which the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain have faced, by implication blaming liberal governance in those countries for an inability to take sufficiently firm steps to mitigate the pandemic.