Hungarian government official: Brussels’s migration policy ‘irresponsible’

Brussels is pursuing an “irresponsible” migration policy, “yet Hungary is the one being penalised”, Barna Pál Zsigmond, a state secretary of the European affairs ministry, said on Tuesday.

Commenting on recent knife attacks in Germany committed by migrants, Zsigmond told public television M1 that he has expressed his condolences to a parliamentary delegation from North Rhine-Westphalia over the recent deadly stabbings in Solingen.

The state secretary said the EU needed to take action against illegal migration because these kinds of attacks were becoming widespread in major Western European cities. He added, however, that Western European countries were only able to carry out 22 percent of their deportation rulings, “and in Germany, the mainstream left-liberal media doesn’t even allow this to be discussed”.

The Hungarian model, on the other hand, was effective, he said, noting that it called for assessing asylum applications outside the border, effective border protection and firm action against people smugglers. Deportation rulings, he added, also had to be enforced, and help should be provided at the point where it is needed.

Zsigmond said Hungary has spent more than EUR 2 billion on border protection in line with its obligations as a member of the Schengen area, “yet we’re the ones being penalised by Brussels”. He said Brussels wanted Hungary to accept migrant quotas and set up “migrant camps”, while the European Court of Justice has imposed an “unprecedented fine” on the country.

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