Orbán meets EP President Schultz ahead of EU summit

Pozsony (Bratislava), September 16 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, ahead of an EU summit in Bratislava on Friday, and asked him for “more respect for Hungarians”.

Orbán said he had told Schulz that the European Union should in future refrain from “employing legal tricks” to circumvent the decisions and will of the sovereign nation states, the way it had done with the migrant quota plans. These were first to be voluntary, under an initial agreement of EU heads of state and government, but then “changed to mandatory through the collusions of the European Parliament and the European Commission,” he said.

Schulz said in an interview to Spiegel Online published on Thursday that Orbán “refuses to help find a joint European Union solution to the migrant crisis”.

At a press conference in Bratislava on Friday, Schulz said that “despite huge differences in positions” it would be useful to have detailed talks with Orbán and discuss open issues. Member countries should have dialogue, and “provocative actions” need to be avoided, he added.

Schulz said his talks with Orbán had touched upon illegal migration. He said he thought that the mandatory quota system would not work, but added that it was in the interest of migrants to provide an opportunity under which member states could accommodate them on a voluntary basis.

Schulz also denied remarks quoted by the Hungarian government, which suggested a call on left-wing municipalities to accommodate migrants.

Photo: MTI/Prime Minister Office

Source: MTI