Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary in charge of international communications and relations, has condemned Latvian European People's Party MEP Inese Vaidere for her "recent attack on the Hungarian presidency in a paid advertisement".

Kovács said on Facebook the advertisement showed that "in recent months Vaidere must have been sitting in the cinema looking in the wrong direction".

Kovács said she had missed the approval of the European competitiveness pact, and the Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria. "She has also failed to see that Hungary was keeping European Union interests in mind, not only its own interests when it urged for peace and said no to migration," he added.

Kovács said one must not forget that "Hungary has been protecting EU borders since 2015, whereas Brussels has only thought of dealing with border protection now".