George Soros
© M. Popow / Global Look Press 195George Soros
Hungary is facing a frontal assault from US financier George Soros, the vice-chairman of the ruling Fidesz party has said, after the billionaire released a statement accusing the Hungarian government of "lying" about his agenda.

Fidesz vice-chairman Gergely Gulyas pushed back against Soros' claims that his government was spreading disinformation, and denied that it was stoking anti-Muslim sentiments and embracing anti-Semitic stereotypes. Instead, Gulyas accused Soros of attacking his country through his NGOs and EU bureaucrats, and using them to push a pro-migrant agenda.

"What Soros writes about immigration, in general, is a pro-immigration stance that is open about its disdain for the nation state," Reuters quoted Gulyas as telling news conference on Monday. "Decisions made in Brussels echo that in the field of immigration policy."

"Days before a recent immigration decision in the European Parliament, Soros was meeting with the rapporteur on the subject as well as five different EU commissioners. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but this holds some clues."

On Monday, George Soros released a statement in response to seven allegations the Hungarian government made against him in their National Consultation survey on the "Soros plan." The statement attempted to offer a rebuttal to those claims, for example that Soros wants to resettle 1 million refugees throughout Europe each year. The statement countered that in 2016, Soros acknowledged that circumstances had changed and that instead, the EU should make a "commitment to admit even a mere 300,000 refugees annually."

The statement also dismissed claims that Soros wants to undermine European culture, launch attacks on countries which oppose immigration and called for migrants to receive reduced sentences for their crimes, as lies.

The conservative Hungarian government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has made no secret of its disdain for George Soros and his political activities, accusing him of undermining European borders and values by helping facilitate the flow of refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa. In May, Soros accused Hungary of being a "mafia state," words that Orban considered a "declaration of war."