The borders of Europe must be defended

The Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán

The Prime Minister

The borders of Europe must be defended, and to this end, the European Union must also take policing and military action, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday in the radio programme Kossuth Rádió 180 minutes.

The Prime Minister made the above statement after the attendees of the extraordinary EU summit held in Brussels on Thursday decided, in the context of asylum, that the EU would triple the funds that it had to date spent on rescuing migrants attempting to reach Europe from North-Africa via the Mediterranean in hazardous conditions.

Concerning border protection in Europe, Mr Orbán told Kossuth Rádió: “we cannot be like a piece of cheese that is full of holes; we cannot allow people to come and go across our borders as they please”. It is, however, not enough to defend the borders of Europe; we must at the same time pursue a policy which helps those desiring to escape their poor conditions to stay where they were born, he stressed.

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Photo: Szilárd KOSZTICSÁK/MTI

This summit concerned refugees arriving by sea, the Prime Minister continued. Hungary is, however, compelled to concern itself with refugees arriving in Europe by land. The EU will deal with this issue in June when it is to discuss a comprehensive migration strategy.

The Prime Minister also said that the Prime Ministers of the Visegrád countries had a separate meeting on Thursday and approved a joint position which fundamentally focuses on the issue of economic migrants arriving in our countries by land. The current leader of the V4 Group, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico presented this position to the EU summit.

In the radio interview Viktor Orbán confirmed Hungary’s position that it would be better if EU Member States were able to decide themselves how they wish to curb refugee waves in the light of their respective specificities.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that the Government will soon launch a national consultation regarding illegal migrants, the questions of which have already been approved. People will be asked, among other things, whether they agree that illegal border-crossers should be taken into custody, whether they should be deported immediately, and whether they should be required to work during their residence in Hungary in order to cover the expenses of their stay in the country, he said. Mr Orbán remarked that these ideas are at present contrary to the EU regulations in force which are, in his opinion, merely silly rules because they “paralyse” Member States.

The Prime Minister added that as long as refugees are allowed to move on, there is no big problem as far as Hungary is concerned. “However, the Germans and the Austrians will not allow people entering the territory of the EU illegally to freely move on to their countries indefinitely.”

Finally, Mr Orbán stated that, in his view, Europe does not need immigrants; we need a good family and employment policy instead. He indicated at the same time that this is a question on which his own view is far from being widely shared.

(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)