Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is vowing to rid his country of foreign-funded groups, calling them a “shadow army” serving the European Union and a “liberal American empire.”

In a conspiracy theory-laden address, which coincided with a national holiday commemorating Hungary’s 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule, Viktor Orbán told a group of several thousand select supporters that Hungary in the coming weeks will uproot media outlets and other organizations that have received funding from abroad,

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged on Saturday to crack down on politicians and journalists who receive foreign funding and again ruled out EU membership for Ukraine, stepping up his campaign for elections due in a year.

Tens of thousands rallied in Budapest against Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Saturday, waving the national flag as the leader of the surging opposition Tisza party pledged to make Hungary part of a strong Europe and end Orban's 15-year rule.

"There is always an empire that is trying to take away the freedom of the Hungarians, and right now it is the one in Brussels," Viktor Orban said in a speech on Saturday. View on euronews