Hillary Clinton has delivered a stinging attack on the Conservative party for the failure of Tory MEPs to censure Hungary’s authoritarian leader, Viktor Orbán.
Delivering the keynote speech at a conference at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, she said the Tories had “come a long way from the party of Churchill or Thatcher”.
Last month, the Conservative group at the European parliament voted against measures to censure Hungary over its policies to reduce judicial independence and extend control over the media, as well as concerns about corruption.
The group, which was almost alone among centre-right parties in opposing the motion, argued the plan was counterproductive and would strengthen Orbán domestically, but attracted criticism, including from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Muslim Council of Britain.
The censure motion was passed at the European parliament by 448 votes to 197.
In her address on Tuesday, Clinton expressed concern about attacks on human rights globally, and said countries such as Hungary and Turkey were not real democracies, “just illiberal ones”.
“I hope the EU and the people of Europe will resist the backsliding we are seeing in the east. It’s disheartening to watch Conservatives in Brussels vote to shield Viktor Orbán from censure, including British Tories,” she said.
In a wide-ranging speech, Clinton compared the fragmentation in the world to that in the aftermath of the second world war, as she criticised Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and leaders in Poland, Egypt, the Philippines and her own country.
She also warned about the dangers of technology, saying it was a double-edged sword, with data now the world’s most dangerous commodity. During her speech, she referenced calls by the MPs Damian Collins and Tom Watson for a full, independent investigation into Russia’s role in the Brexit vote, and said: “I don’t understand why the press, the political establishment and the public are so reluctant to call out what the Russians have been doing – what they did in Brexit, what they did in the United States.”
With respect to Europe and the US, Clinton had strong words on immigration policies, calling for an end to the latter’s “cruel abuses at the border”.
“Here in Europe, I add my voice to those warning about the risk of giving up on Schengen and the great benefits freedom of movement can deliver,” she said.
Clinton said she was not talking about open borders, but laws enforced fairly and with respect. In comments that could be interpreted as applying to the UK, given the part immigration played in the EU referendum campaign and the Windrush scandal, the former first lady said: “We can’t let fear or bias force us to give up the values that have made our democracies both great and good.
“Our goal should be to to build societies that are secure and welcoming, where everyone counts and everyone contributes – people who are newcomers to our lands and people who have lived in the same place for generations.”
Clinton, who stood unsuccessfully against Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential campaign, said such a goal was made harder by the current US administration and the state of Europe. She described the US as being in crisis.
“There are no tanks in the street of Washington and New York, but our democratic institutions and traditions are under threat on many fronts,” she said.
Clinton described the alleged murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week as a “grave crime” if true.
