Macron Slams 'Demagogues' Blaming Everything on Europe After Salvini-Orban Snub

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday lambasted those who blame all problems on Brussels, calling them "nationalist demagogues," only days after Italian and Hungarian leaders called him out for his migration policy and vowed to change Europe.

"There is either the desire to take Europe hostage of demagoguery which serves political leaders and to say, all of your problems are because of Europe… You are worried that there is migration in Africa…? That's because of Europe! These are not what we call sometimes 'populists,' these are nationalist demagogues," Macron said at a joint press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila.

READ MORE: Hungary Summons Swedish Ambassador Over Criticism of Migration Policy

The French president stressed that the nationalists were forgetting everything that united Europe had brought.

"For the last 70 years, we have been living a miracle, on the scale of millennia, that is, there is no war in Europe. And we have to build a new stage, it is evident. Otherwise, this Europe will fall apart faced with geopolitical risks and internal divisions," Macron said.

The French president added that he had been "reassured" by his recent trips: before Finland, Macron had visited Denmark. According to media reports, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen suggested Copenhagen might consider doing more in terms of common European defense, strongly championed by Macron.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met in Milan on Tuesday to discuss cooperation on border protection and a tougher migration policy. The two pledged to counter what they described as Macron's pro-migration policy.