Hillary Clinton has condemned the UK Conservative party for voting in support of Hungary's authoritarian right-wing government in the European parliament.
"It’s disheartening to watch Conservatives in Brussels vote to shield Viktor Orbán from censure, including British Tories," Clinton said.
The former Democratic presidential nominee added: "They’ve come a long way from the party of Churchill and Thatcher."
Last month, Conservative members of the European parliament were whipped to oppose disciplinary action against Orbán's Hungarian government after it was accused of attacks on the media, minorities, and the rule of law.
Orban has been criticised for his rhetoric about "Muslim invaders" and calling migrants "poison".
The Tories were the only governing conservative party in western Europe to vote against the motion. The parliament in Strasbourg voted 448–197 in favour of disciplinary action.
WhatsApp messages leaked to BuzzFeed News revealed Downing Street privately told its MEPs to distance themselves from Orbán after the vote. Orbán later wrote to the Tories thanking them for their "solidarity".
Seb Dance, the deputy leader of the European Labour Party, has described the move as: "Just one example of the desperation of the Tories to salvage alliances and prevent a rebellion of the hard-line anti-European wing of their party," adding, "the actions of the Tory Party in offending our European partners and isolating themselves from colleagues in the political mainstream, has undermined trust and confidence in the UK."
Speaking at an event hosted by the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford University on Tuesday, Clinton warned that the Tory MEPs' backing for Orbán's government showed they had failed to recognise the threat of autocratic regimes in Europe.
"The slide toward autocracy is at least as grave a threat to the European project as the financial crisis or Brexit," Clinton said.
She went on to criticise those in the West who support leaders like Orbán and said democratic countries must work together to oppose autocratic governments like Hungary's.
"We can’t be taken in by self-styled realists or admirers of strongmen, who argue that human rights are luxuries that must be sacrificed in pursuit of stability or security," she said. "Democracies sticking together is the first thing we must do.”
Conservative home affairs spokesperson Daniel Dalton MEP said: "I can reassure Hilary [sic] Clinton that Conservative MEPs have not voted in support of the Hungarian Government.
"We opposed the European Parliament resolution because it went way beyond the Parliament's competency and will never be applied because Poland has already pledged to veto it in the European Council.
"Equally importantly, it could make any subsequent legal moves against Hungary more difficult by enabling Viktor Orban to claim they were politically motivated.
"We take very seriously the direction the Hungarian Government is taking, particularly in its rhetoric surrounding migrants and ethnic and religious minorities, and the rule of law and freedom of the press."