We never let them in Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán demands new laws tackling migration

Migration will disintegrate the European Union, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday at the Cernobbio Forum in northern Italy, asking for new laws to stem its flow.

“If you look back from 2014 period until now, this period is a disintegration process period of European Union.”

The nationalist Hungarian leader, who has long been under fire for his vocal anti-migrant stances, having referred to them as “poison” and “not needed”, made the comments while discussing his three priorities during Hungary's six-month EU presidency: competitiveness, the war in Europe and migration.

Migration — as well as gender, employment, and security — is an “existential issue” facing the EU, he said. Reflecting on Hungary’s approach to illegal migration and comparing it to Germany’s generous asylum policy, he said, “We never let them in.”

After Orbán addressed the conference, he furthered these statements by posting, “Let Hungary and others have an opt-out of the common migration policy," on social media platform X.

‘Brussels can have them'
Meanwhile, a senior Hungarian official echoed these comments, stating the anti-immigrant government is serious about implementing a plan to provide asylum seekers free one-way travel to Brussels.

At a news conference in the capital Budapest, State Secretary Bence Rétvári claimed the EU wanted to force Hungary to allow “illegal migrants” across its borders and said the country would “offer these illegal migrants, voluntarily, free of charge, one-way travel to Brussels."

The Hungarian government has announced its intention to transport migrants directly to Brussels in an effort to pressure the European Union.

The Secretary of State for the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior accuses the EU of trying to force Hungary to admit illegal migrants.

- If the European Union, Brussels, wants to force Hungary to admit illegal migrants, whom we have stopped numerous times at the border, then after implementing the procedure, we will offer the migrants a free one-way ticket to Brussels - stated Bence Retvari.

The conference, at which these statements were made, took place against a backdrop of buses displaying the route "Röszke-Brussels."

Röszke is located on Hungary's southern border with Serbia, while Brussels is the seat of the European Union. - If Brussels wants migrants, they can have them. The transport will be conducted following the implementation of the European procedure - stated Retvari.

Fine imposed on Hungary
Hungary has yet to pay a fine of 200 million euros ($300 million CAD) imposed by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) for the country's migration policy. If the government in Budapest does not pay within two weeks, the money will be deducted from EU funds. Hungary also faces daily fines of 1 million euros ($1.5 million CAD).

The Court of Justice of the EU ruled in 2020 that Hungary violated EU law, including by detaining asylum seekers in transit zones and deporting those awaiting appeal decisions. The ruling also addressed the use of pushbacks—forcing migrants back to the country they crossed the border from.

Right after the ruling, Hungary declared the elimination of transit zones. However, the CJEU determined that Budapest had not complied with the ruling and in June imposed a fine of 200 million euros ($300 million CAD). At the same time, to force Budapest to change its migration policies, the Court announced that if Hungary does not amend its laws in accordance with the ruling, it could face a daily fine of 1 million euros ($1.5 million CAD).

The Hungarian government wants the European Commission to count the funds the country spends on guarding the EU's external border, that is, its border with Serbia, towards the fine. According to Budapest's calculations, the Commission owes it 2 billion euros ($3 billion CAD) for this over the past close to 10 years. However, European Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari emphasized that the procedure for paying or deducting fines is stipulated in EU regulations, and Budapest's proposal does not align with them.

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[Freeskatespots]

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