Orbán’s cabinet: LIBE vote to reform Dublin rules goes against European Council intentions

The European Parliament civil liberties committee’s decision to approve draft reforms to the Dublin refugee system goes against even the European Council’s intentions, the government spokesman told the press in London on Tuesday.

The EP’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) last Thursday approved a draft text on modifying the Dublin Regulation with a view to speeding up asylum procedures and ensuring a more equal distribution of the burden of migration among member states.

The draft reforms covertly transfer sovereign competencies from European Union member states, Zoltán Kovács insisted, arguing that the reforms would create a body that would practically introduce a mandatory and permanent quota mechanism for the redistribution of migrants and asylum seekers across the bloc.

Kovács reiterated Hungary’s opposition to a mandatory migrant quota system, calling it a “dangerous endeavour” and saying that it went against the interests of member states.

Hungary’s stance on this has been “very consistent”, he said, adding that the country would challenge such measures. Hungary’s ongoing government survey dubbed “national consultation” also serves this purpose, he said.

Citing a recent NATO report saying that tens of millions of people were preparing to flee to Europe, Kovács said the developments on European borders “are not temporary”.

He said Europe was late in tackling illegal migration, adding that this was “alarming” because certain players were seeking to organise illegal migration instead of trying to stop it.

On the topic of the Hungarian economy, he said economic growth would reach 4 percent by the end of the year. Consumption has been rising for 15 months straight, real wages are growing at a rate of over 10 percent while inflation remains low, Kovács said.

Unemployment is at an historic low of 4-4.1 percent, he said. Whereas unemployment stood at 11.4 percent in 2010, 700,000 new jobs have been created since then, mostly in the private sector, Kovács said.

The government’s target to create one million new jobs by the end of the decade remains achievable, he said.

Asked about Hungary’s NGO transparency law, Kovács said those that want to be a part of the political decision making process need to have a democratic mandate. NGOs, however, have no such mandate, since they have never contested an election, he added. Voter support is not the same as financial support, the government spokesman said.

The 18 billion dollars that US billionaire George Soros has transferred to his Open Society Foundation is more than the state budget’s personal income tax revenues, Kovács insisted.

Source: MTI