Conference marking the first anniversary of the death of Helmut Kohl – Orbán: No compromise over migration

A compromise cannot be made in the dispute over migration, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Saturday, and added that “there is no need for such a compromise”.

Orbán addressed a conference marking the first anniversary of the death of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and said we know of no such document that says “if you join the European Union, you must become a country for migrants”.

Orbán also said that

“Hungary is aware of its strength, weight and responsibilities in the EU and does not seek to assume a political role at the European level”.

“We are a proud people, which knows itself and assesses the situation realistically. Where we do have definite ambitions is Central Europe and the Visegrad Four,” he insisted. He added that Hungary wants to be one of the region’s “strong and closely cooperating countries which help and encourage each other”.

The prime minister said that building a strong Europe requires strong nation-states. Concerning the EU, he said that the community was “still rich but weakening” and insisted that the future of Europe was conditional on its ability to protect its external borders. Once those borders are protected, he said, the migrants already in Europe “will not need to be distributed but returned home”.