Hungary rejects Brussels “blackmail” attempt

Prague, May 4 (MTI) – The Hungarian government will not succumb to blackmail in connection with the European migrant quotas, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday, in reaction to a European Commission proposal under which EU member states would be charged 250,000 euros for every refugee they refuse to accommodate.

Speaking after a meeting with his Visegrad Four and Eastern Partnership counterparts in Prague, Szijjártó called the proposal a “dead end” and repeated the Hungarian government’s position under which “it is not up to Brussels but to Hungarians to decide whom we welcome to live in the country”.

As we wrote, earlier in the day, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said that the EC’s plans were “hair raising”.

Asked about the EU’s conditional backing of visa-free entry for Turkish citizens, Szijjártó said only countries that comply with all requirements should be given visa-free status, stressing that the safety of Hungarians is “non-negotiable”.

He said giving Turkey visa-free status before Georgia or Ukraine simply on the basis of the EU-Turkey migrant deal could hurt the EU’s credibility.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters