Orbán cabinet: EU leaders must accept strategy to stop migration, not manage it

Hungary wants the European Council to accept the position that migration should be stopped rather than managed, Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international communications and relations, said during a visit to London on Monday.

“Hungary is also firm on respecting the sovereignty of [European Union] member states and removing double standards,”

he told MTI, briefing on discussion of the new strategy framework by the EU heads of government and state.

Respecting the basic ideas and practice of Christian culture on which the ethos of the European Union is based is key to fulfilling Hungary’s standpoint on sovereignty and migration, he added.

The right of every EU member state to create its own economic policy mix should also be recognised, he said.

On the topic of the current UK leadership contest, Kovács said Hungary would accept any outcome and held the position that British voters exclusively had the right to decide what happens in their own country. This position is characteristic of all issues pertaining to Hungary-UK relations, including Brexit, he added.

Both candidates, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, maintain ties with the Hungarian government that guarantee cooperation based on mutual respect and pragmatism, he said.

Kovács said at the same time that Hungary insists on resolving Brexit based on the unified EU position of the 27 remaining member states. “It would make no sense … to think in terms of individual solutions.”

He said the current rights and status of Hungarians living in the UK under EU law should be preserved in a way allowed under international law. Kovacs said the British government had given Hungary guarantees accordingly.