Opposition parties criticise Orbán over positions at EU summit

Budapest (MTI) – Viktor Orbán suffered a defeat at the EU summit; Hungarians working abroad will now be clearly worse off, the opposition Socialists’ deputy chairman told MTI on Saturday.

Jobbik party said the prime minister had taken a U-turn on the issue of migrant quotas by supporting the European Council’s closing declaration on the relocation of migrants. The party’s deputy head Dániel Z Kárpát said that while the prime minister and his cabinet are using “militant rhetoric” to attack the quotas and collecting signatures at home, they do not stand up for their position abroad. He called on the prime minister to reject all forms of the settlement quota and reinstate independent border control.

MEP István Újhelyi said the United Kingdom could restrict allowances for workers from EU member states for not four, but possibly seven years and other EU member states could also limit certain welfare benefits for workers from EU member states. The opposition politician said the Hungarian prime minister never really cared about the interests of young people and families living abroad and “is even lying about their numbers”. At the Brussels press conference, the prime minister said there are about 200-300 Hungarian families living in England, he added. Újhelyi said Orbán is perfectly aware that there are now several hundred thousand Hungarians working in the United Kingdom alone.

Nóra Hajdú, board member of the Együtt party, also said Orbán was partly to blame for the fact that life will become harder for Hungarians working in the UK. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Hajdú said Orbán also approved the European resolution on the implementation of the migrant settlement quotas in spite of having launched a “shameful campaign” against migration with the national consultation, while the Fidesz party’s local initiatives across the country are calling on the government to do its best to undermine the European Union’s decisions.

Deputy head of the leftist Democratic Coalition Csaba Molnár said Orbán was among the leaders who voted in favour of the distribution of migrants based on quotas and has thereby become a “political celebrity”, incapable of protecting the country. This shows that the prime minister “has lied to Hungarians” because he said in his government’s billboard campaign that the system of migrant quotas is harmful and he will not allow any migrants to be settled in Hungary, Molnár told MTI.