Orbán: Brussels budget proposal lacks seriousness, unsuitable for debate

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks on Tuesday with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and the prime ministers of Croatia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Sweden, Orbán’s press chief said.

At the talks Orbán rejected an EU budget proposal which promotes migration and “an increase in Brussels bureaucracy”.

Orbán also said that the European Commission’s budget amendment proposal in its current form “lacks seriousness” and was “unsuitable for debate”.

According to a statement released after the video conference, Brussels would provide EUR 50 billion in support to Ukraine, while the utilisation of EU resources provided since the start of the war “is still unclear”. Brussels was demanding further resources from member states in order to cover the deficit caused in the EU budget by rising interest rates, while the money due to Hungary and Poland from a previous joint loan was still being held back, the statement said.

“Another problem is that the EC budget proposal would further bloat Brussels bureaucracy,” it added.

The Hungarian government argues that instead of stopping illegal migration, Brussels would spend further billions on supporting the inflow of illegal migrants to Europe, the statement said. Orbán underlined Hungary’s position that the solution to illegal migration would be for any person submitting an entry request to the EU to stay beyond European borders while the request is assessed.