Former US attorney general Jeff Sessions praised Hungary’s consistent migration policy

Mass migration will make the European Union weaker, not stronger, Balázs Orbán, state secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, told a panel discussion on Monday.

The 2015 migration crisis was a “milestone” in Europe, Orbán said at the event organised by the Danube Institute, arguing that it had led European politicians to realise that the world had changed and that they had been “unprepared” for what was happening.

The laws that were being applied during the crisis had been enacted decades before and had been meant to address the issue of political refugees fleeing communist countries at the time, Orbán said.

But the world has changed, the state secretary said. The bipolar world of the Cold War is gone and has left behind unstable regions which many are trying to leave, he said. Many try to enter the European Union illegally and apply for asylum, he said, adding that many illegal migrants wanted to stay even if their asylum request is denied.

Orbán said that if the EU indicated to migrants that they had a chance to enter the bloc, they were even prepared to try to enter illegally.