Summit of the 27 countries remaining in the EU – Orban: Brexit mainly triggered by “inappropriate” EU response to migration

Brussels, June 29 (MTI) – The EU’s “inappropriate” response to the migration crisis has been the main reason for the outcome of the recent UK referendum, the Hungarian prime minister said in Brussels where he attended the summit of the 27 countries remaining in the EU.

There is “no point” in pushing Britain to start the exit procedure, Viktor Orbán told a press conference on Wednesday.

He added that there should not even be any “background talks” until Britain formally announces its exit from the bloc.

Participants in the summit agreed that in return for access to the internal market of the EU, the UK will be expected to observe the principle of the free movement of goods, services, capital, and persons, Orbán said.

After the Brexit referendum “we must return to the idea that the European Union is based on members rather than on EU institutions”, Orbán said, and insisted that “democracy in the EU can only be reinforced through its members”. “The EU is not in Brussels but in twenty-seven – for the moment twenty-eight – capitals.”

Answering a question, Orbán denied allegations in the press that Hungary would seek the resignation of the head of the European Commission. It would “not be the least chivalrous” to lambast heads of the European institutions “in a situation like this”, he argued.