Government asks for parlt support against migrant quotas
Budapest, October 6 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orban has instructed the justice minister to prepare proposals for Parliament to thwart the mandatory migrant quotas, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
Representatives of Hungary’s five parliamentary parties met the prime minister on Tuesday to discuss the country’s approach to the European Union’s decision to introduce mandatory migrant quotas. Speaking after the meeting, Szijjarto said that most lawmakers “support the notion that Hungary’s national sovereignty must be protected”.
Szijjarto said the justice ministry’s proposals would be submitted to parliament and argued that the government needs the approval of the legislative body to put up a fight against migrant quotas.
He said the justice minister would consult his Slovak and Czech counterparts on the matter in the near future.
The decision to distribute migrants across the continent is not in the interests of Hungary or Europe, Szijjarto said.
He noted that while the European Council concluded twice that migrant quotas should only be implemented on a voluntary basis, the European Commission pushed for mandatory quotas, a proposal which the council of interior and justice ministers later approved.
The minister said the decision on mandatory quotas has created a “non-existent legal term”, meaning that the EC “has practically amended the Dublin Agreement in a way it should not have been allowed to”. Such decisions should not be made without the involvement of national parliaments as it raises the question of violating the national sovereignty of member states, Szijjarto said.
Socialist leader Jozsef Tobias said the quota system was necessary, but it would not solve the problem.
The question is whether Hungary will take in a few thousand people under the quota regime, or, if current international agreements remain in effect, accept up to 176,000 migrants returned to the country from other EU states, he told a press conference.
He proposed redesigning migration and refugee rules allowing a common European registration, distribution and funding system.
Andras Schiffer, co-chair and group leader of green LMP, told reporters that the mandatory quota system was an appropriate solution, but precluding it would be against Hungary’s interests.
Before appealing the quota decision, Hungary should submit proposals to the European Council on measures towards solving the migration issue, he said.
These should include revamping the European institutional system for migration and refugees and designing new asylum procedures to replace the Dublin regulations, Schiffer said, and proposed setting up a migration fund.
He also proposed renegotiating expulsion agreements with Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey, as well as providing support to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) called on the “democratic opposition” parties not to assist Prime Minister Viktor Orban with his “inhumane asylum policies”.
Spokesman Zsolt Greczy said the prime minister “has never needed as much support as he does now” to thwart mandatory migrant quotas, because he “has isolated himself in Europe”. Greczy said the “only remaining friend” of the Hungarian government is the “openly anti-Hungarian” Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico.
Greczy called on the parliamentary group leaders of the Socialists and LMP not to be “accomplices” to Orban and Fico in their asylum policies.
Hungary should have stood by the quota system from the start, Greczy said, arguing that it is fair and proportional to Hungary’s capacity for taking in refugees.
Photo: MTI
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters
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