The leaders of the European Parliament's major parties have condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for "openly racist" comments he made about racial mixing.
Orban triggered a wave of international criticism after a July 23 speech in Romania in which he warned against mixing with "non-Europeans."
His words sparked an immediate outcry, with the United States calling it "inexcusable," and Jewish community representatives voicing alarm.
In the latest rebuke, major parties at the European Parliament issued a statement on June 30, saying Orban’s comments were “unacceptable” and breached the values enshrined in EU treaties.
A European Parliament spokeswoman said the declaration was adopted on June 29 with a "very large" majority.
The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists Group opposed the decision, according to a parliament source quoted by the dpa news agency.
The parliament leaders also urged the European Commission and the European Council to condemn Orban's statement "in the strongest terms," with the commission so far declining to comment.
Only its vice president Frans Timmermans has reacted, calling racism a "poisonous political invention" with no place in Europe in a tweet on June 27 that did not mention Orban.
The Hungarian leader's remarks triggered widespread outrage, including from the International Auschwitz Committee, while the United States called them "inexcusable" and reminiscent of the Nazi era.
Speaking at an event at Baile Tusnad, in central Romania, in front of a thousands-strong audience, Orban said: "We move, we work elsewhere, we mix within Europe, but we don't want to be a mixed race," a "multiethnic" people who would mix with "non-Europeans."