Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused European leaders of “deliberately” letting in migrants to weaken nation states in a bid to turn Europe into a “multicultural state”.

Speaking at a state commemoration of the anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 on October 23, he said European parliamentary elections in May will decide Europe's future direction. The people of Europe must choose their future, he stressed. 

Orban spoke in front of a selected crowd of supporters bused in from various parts of the country amid high security. Last year scores of anti-government protesters whistled during his speech. 

As in previous speeches, he focused briefly on the actual historical aspects of the event, Hungary's short-lived uprising against the Soviet Union, crushed after 12 days. His speech was part of the campaign for the European parliamentary elections.

The dominant theme of Orban's speech was that Brussels wants to replace nation states with a European empire controlled not by leaders elected by the people but by Brussels bureaucrats.

Those who want to knead a European empire out of the European Union are all, without exception, pro-immigration," he said. "They deliberately failed to use their huge military and police might. They deliberately failed to defend Europe from the masses of migrants." 

Orban has positioned himself and Hungary as the last bastion of Europe, and made the blocking of migration the as his principal political focus, On numerous occasions, he said mass migration of Muslims into Europe will lead to the loss of the continent’s Christian culture and lifestyle, which needs to be stopped. 

He warned that a growing number of military-age men are arriving in Europe from other continents and other cultures, and that "in our lifetime they will shape Europe's major cities to their own image." Slowly but surely Europe's natives will end up in the minority, he warned. 

Terror will become a part of big city life and political manipulation citing the rule of law will become common practice, the prime minister claimed. 

Orban did not tell his crowd that less than a week ago, he signed a document of the European Council, an assessment of the actions taken by member states on its comprehensive approach to migration.

The document states that the number of detected illegal border crossings into the EU has been brought down by 95% from its peak in October 2015. It also highlighted the importance of further preventing illegal migration and of strengthening cooperation with countries of origin and transit. 

Instead, he told supporters that Brussels today is ruled by those who want to replace the alliance of free nations with a “European empire” controlled not by leaders elected by the people but by Brussels bureaucrats. There are many European countries today where those who believe in a European empire are in power, he added.

Meanwhile, opposition parties demonstrated to call for Hungary to join the European prosecutor's office (EPPO). Hungary and Poland are among the few EU members who reject joining the EU prosecutor's office, calling it a matter of national sovereignty. The rally was organised by former green party leader Akos Hadhazy, now an independent MP, who has been leading in uncovering corruption cases.

He said if opposition parties could gather 1mn signatures, it would put pressure on the government to join. So far, 120,000 signatures have been  collected. Hadhazy said he was confident that gathering 1mn petition signatures plus pressure from the EU would compel Orban's government to join the office.  

He said this would not result in the suspension of the transfer of European Union funds to Hungary, but would instead drive back corruption.

Hungary has fallen back in various corruption surveys. A Freedom House in April classified Hungary as a "semi-consolidated democracy" and warned of systematic corruption.

Other opposition leaders used the occasion to slam Orban. The head of the largest opposition party Jobbik called Orban, "the greatest thief in the world" and claimed he was “building Bolshevism” in Hungary. Tamas Sneider said that just as the Communists had been subservient to the Soviet Union, the current prime minister was "the most devoted servant" of Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. A few hundred supporters of Jobbik went on to stage a protest at the headquarters of the state television channel and throw eggs at the building.