'Hello dictator'
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker lived up to his reputation for straight talking yesterday when he hailed Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban as "dictator" on his arrival at an EU summit in Riga.
The right-wing Orban has angered and infuriated his European Union peers for years, carrying out sweeping constitutional and institutional changes that critics say have curbed press freedom and judicial authority.
"Hello, dictator," Juncker was overheard to say to Orban in front of the press at the EU-Eastern Partnership summit in Latvia.
Orban replied: "Hello Grand Duke," a reference to Juncker's native Luxembourg, known as the Grand Duchy even though it is one of the smallest countries in the world.
Orban's spokesman Bertalan Havasi told AFP that the two men enjoyed the banter.
"Orban usually greets Juncker like that. It has been like that for years," Havasi said.
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