Schengen

New York Times editors ‘still don’t get it’ on migrant crisis, says Hungarian government spokesman

Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács has hit back at New York Times, which criticised Hungary for its migration policy in a weekend editoral, saying they “really still don’t get it”.

In a blog entry on the spokesman’s official website posted on Monday, Kovács said the government of Viktor Orbán had “built a fence on the southern border of Hungary because it’s an external border of the European Union’s Schengen Area.”

“It was not simply “to tighten his border,” as they say, but to defend Europe and uphold treaty obligations, which include preventing illegal immigration into the EU. Maintaining the security and integrity of the borders of the Schengen zone, the borderless area that allows freedom of movement, is essential to the EU’s security and the workings of the internal market. That’s a key point here.”

Kovács continued:

“Strong and secure borders are not making the migration crisis worse. On the contrary! It’s weak, undefended borders that are aggravating the crisis by creating a “pull factor,” encouraging migrants to set out on the dangerous journey. It’s the failure to secure the borders that has fueled an industry of human trafficking that prey on migrants. And it’s the failure to secure the external borders that has led to hundreds of thousands of migrants illegally entering the territory of the EU.”

As we published today, government spokesman has dismissed a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung suggesting that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán may be open to a compromise deal on refugee distribution after the 2018 Hungarian general election.

Also we wrote  before, Jobbik’s president gave an interview to New York Times. With a few paragraphs referring to this interview, the US newspaper’s website published an article covering Putin’s visit and presenting the Russia-Hungary relations from the New York Times’ liberal point of view.

Read here the orginal article of New York Times: Hungary Is Making Europe’s Migrant Crisis Worse

Blog entry on the spokesman’s official website posted: The New York Times editors really still don’t get it

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Orbán to Juncker: ‘Hungary not immigrant country’

In a letter to the European Commission president, Hungary’s prime minister has insisted that the commission president’s “interpretation of solidarity conforms neither to EU law nor the historical traditions of Hungary”.

“Unlike some other major EU member states, Hungary does not have a colonial past,” the PM said, adding that immigrant countries had obligations arising from their colonial past.

“Hungary is not an immigrant country and does not want to become one.”

In the letter released to MTI by Orbán’s press chief, Viktor Orbán wrote to Jean-Claude Juncker that he was pleased that the commission president, in his recent letter to Orbán, had recognised Hungary’s efforts to protect the European Union’s external border.

“Over the past two years, Hungary has been protecting the common borders by mobilising Hungarian resources, with a heavy budgetary burden, by building a fence and deploying thousands of border guards,” the letter said. “Hungary must always behave like a Schengen-border country, but for geographical reasons, migrants cross the borders of the EU of other EU member states, and this especially applies to Greece. It is for this reason that Hungary has not participated in projects that do not make this issue clear, and it does not want to do so in future either.”

He said Hungary could not accept being forced to change. “The interpretation of the principle of solidarity described in your letter is essentially nothing other than the demand that Hungary transform itself into an immigrant country against the will of Hungarian citizens. This is not solidarity in my view but force,” Orbán wrote in the German-language letter.

The PM said he was baffled by passages in Juncker’s letter that drew a connection between the issue of migration and cohesion funding. “Such a connection does not exist; neither is it allowed by European law.”

“The Hungarian government’s view is that much of the cohesion funding lands with the companies of countries paying into the fund, so the economies of large EU member states have profited greatly from cohesion spending. This is also true of the opening of the markets of new member states.”

Orbán also expressed his “astonishment and incomprehension” at reading that the commission was disinclined to accede to Hungary’s request for border control funding. “It is my conviction that whoever refuses to support the fence, cannot and does not want to protect the citizens of the European Union.”

“Wherever there are mass attempts to cross borders illegally, without physical obstacles it is impossible to defend them,” the letter said. “If instead of defending the borders the European Commission only willingly finances measures and institutions for receiving migrants, instead of halting migration, we would give new incentives to hundreds of thousands of planning to migrate to Europe.”

“This is why I’d like to repeat the Hungarian government’s request that the European Union pay half the cost of Hungarian measures, including the fence, aimed at protecting the common Schengen borders,” Orbán wrote, adding that the costs to the Hungarian taxpayer had amounted to 270 billion forints (EUR 883m) over the past two years.

“The fence and Hungarian border hunters protect not only Hungarian citizens but Austrian, German and other EU citizens, too,” the letter concluded.

 

Photo: MTI

Juncker to Orbán: European solidarity ‘is two-way street’

juncker

The European Commission in ready to “swiftly examine” Hungary’s request for additional financial support for protecting the European Union’s external borders in specific and urgent cases, president of the commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, adding that “solidarity is a two-way street”.

Last week, Orbán turned to the commission with a request that the EU pay Hungary half the 883 million euro border protection costs incurred by the country.

Juncker in his reply welcomed Hungary’s call for “more Europe in the area of migration and border management, building on the principle of solidarity”.

The commission president noted that Hungary had rejected the offer to relieve the country of 54,000 migrants in 2015, as well as EU advance payment of 4 million euros. He added that Hungary had been able to rely on other forms of operational and financial support between 2014 and 2015, and had received three emergency grants amounting to 6.26 million euros. Juncker’s letter also notes 40 million euros of Internal Security Fund money for the period 2014-2020.

Juncker also mentioned the structural funds that are available to Hungary amounting to 25 billion euros in the 2014-2020 period, or 3 percent of the country’s GDP, which he noted was the highest proportion for any member state.

He said the commission was ready to examine Hungary’s request and would extend support to the country “in the case of specific urgent needs”.

“Solidarity is not an a-la-carte dish: one that can be chosen for border management and rejected when it comes to complying with relocation decisions that have been jointly agreed,” Juncker wrote.

The letter did not refer to a previous statement by a commission spokesperson on Friday, who said Brussels was not willing to provide support for the building of a border fence.

Photo: http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/photo/photoByReportage.cfm?ref=026619

Hungarian FM: The fence is protecting Hungary and Western Europe

“People who do not equate border protection with solidarity do not understand Europe’s current situation, and solidarity that refuses to take into account border protection is not true solidarity”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared at a press conference on Monday.

The Minister explained that Hungary not only made and continues to make an effort to assure the protection of its borders to defend the country, but also because border protection is an EU obligation and is prescribed by the Schengen regulations.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, although the European Commission often states that the EU does not fund security fences, the fence is a good thing and it represents the solution, because it is only possible to prevent the daily inflow of tens of thousands of immigrants via physical protection. “The fence is the heart and centre of defence”, he declared.

“The EC’s Commissioner for Migration Policy and former Greek Minister of Defence, Dimitris Avramopoulos, also defended the construction of the security fence along the Turkish-Greek border at the time, but these days he is criticizing the Hungarian fence”, Mr. Szijjártó recalled.

“A budget of 1.5 billion euros was earmarked to assist Greece with handling illegal immigration, while Italy and Bulgaria are receiving 740 million euros and 260 million euros, respectively, for this purpose, meaning countries in the front line do indeed receive funding based on solidarity”, he said. “Hungary has incurred over 800 million euros in costs and expenses relating to border protection tasks, and we are justified in expecting the EU to refund part of this expenditure based on solidarity”, he said.

Security and solidarity “should go hand-in-hand”, one cannot exist without the other, Mr, Szijjártó declared. The mandatory resettlement quota system is “nonsense”, because it is nonsense to ask a country to exacerbate a phenomenon that undermines its own security on its own territory in the name of solidarity, he explained.

According to the Foreign Minister, the security fence along the country’s southern border is protecting Hungary and Western Europe, and accordingly “we are justified to ask for solidarity on the part of our Western friends”. It is damaging for the European Commission in the long term that European institutions are still “scheming” to find ways of bringing in and distributing illegal immigrants, he said.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will be visiting Budapest next week to meet with the ministers of foreign affairs and trade of the Visegrád Group (V4) to discuss the possible economic outcomes of Brexit, Mr. Szijjártó noted.

In reply to a question, the Foreign Minister said: North Korea is one of the three greatest dangers to the world today, and it is good that the American President and other leaders are taking this risk more seriously than ever before. “The situation has been somewhat underestimated in the past in the international arena, but it has now become clear that this is one of the most serious threats, and that accordingly the strictest possible international measures must be taken against North Korea”, he declared.

As we wrote today, responding to the German chancellor Merkel, who said in a recent election debate that Hungary’s premier had failed to show solidarity by refusing to help refugees in 2015, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó countered on Monday that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had ordered the authorities to uphold Schengen rules in all circumstances.

Photo: kormany.hu

Foreign minister on Merkel remarks: Hungary upheld Schengen rules in 2015

Responding to the German chancellor, who said in a recent election debate that Hungary’s premier had failed to show solidarity by refusing to help refugees in 2015, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó countered on Monday that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had ordered the authorities to uphold Schengen rules in all circumstances. 

Referring to the wave of migrants that set off from Budapest on foot in September 2015, Angela Merkel said in Sunday’s debate with Martin Schulz, her Social Democrat rival, that “Orbán took away the tickets from the refugees in Budapest and did not let the trains leave”. She added that behind her decision to accept the migrants was the fear that “Hungary won’t show solidarity in aiding the refugees”.

Szijjártó told a press conference that “train tickets do not override European law”, and only those with valid travel documents had been allowed to leave Hungary westwards.

He said the only exceptions were when the Austrian or German chancellors “expressed a different view on the issue … Their reasons in doing so are their own affairs.”

Hungary is providing aid to illegal migrants defined under international law, the minister said, adding that in order to benefit, migrants would have to turn up at the “lawfully designated stations”.

Commenting on the fact that Hungary had become a topic of the debate, Szijjártó said called it an “honour” for the country and recognition that Germany was “finally aware of the efforts Hungary is making to fulfil its commitments to the bloc by protecting itself and Europe”. Szijjártó said he expected Hungary to “be the subject of further discussions”, because the country intended to carry on fulfilling its commitments.

In an interview to German paper Welt am Sonntag, Merkel said that migrants who had departed from Budapest on foot towards the Austrian border in 2015 had done so because they had been “misled” by the Hungarian government, adding that the fact “some countries refuse to accept any refugees is not on. That contradicts the spirit of Europe.”

The German government expressed grave concerns over the Hungarian asylum system and as a result, it stopped sending asylum seekers back to Hungary – the German press reported.

Photo: MTI/AP/WDR/Herby Sachs

Government hopeful EC will reimburse half of Hungary border protection costs

Hungary fence

Antal Rogán, the cabinet office chief, told public radio on Sunday he is hopeful that the European Commission will reimburse Hungary for half its spending on border protection.

The government still expects the European Commission to reimburse half the costs, Rogan told Kossuth Radio.

This would not be without precedent, he said, arguing that the European Union had contributed a significant amount of funds to Greece, Italy and Bulgaria’s border protection measures.

“Hungary acted before asking for help”, said Rogán. As quickly as it could, Hungary installed a fence on its southern border and trained and deployed some 3,000 “border-hunter” officers who are still serving on the border, he said.

Rogán noted that protecting the external borders had cost Hungary 270 billion forints (EUR 883m).

“Of course, Brussels is refusing to pay for the fence out of principle,” the cabinet office chief said, but pointed out that the EC had contributed to the construction of Bulgaria’s border fence. Hungary, however, has incurred other migration-related expenditures, and the government is ready to discuss the matter with Brussels, Rogan added.

On the subject of the European Court of Justice’s decision in the case launched by Slovakia and Hungary challenging the legality of the EU’s refugee resettlement scheme due next week, Rogán said he did not have high expectations for the ruling.

The cabinet office chief said he believed the court would make a political decision rather than a legal one, arguing that the court “is under enormous political pressure”.

He said that regardless of the court’s ruling, the government would not accept Brussels deciding who could be settled in Hungary. This is a national competency, Rogán insisted.

As we wrote before, opposition Jobbik has called on the government to file an official request with the European Union for the reimbursement of the full 270 billion forints (EUR 883m) Hungary has spent on border protection measures since 2015.

Photo: kormany.hu

Jobbik wants EU to fully reimburse Hungary’s border control costs

Opposition Jobbik has called on the government to file an official request with the European Union for the reimbursement of the full 270 billion forints (EUR 883m) Hungary has spent on border protection measures since 2015. 

This sum should then be redistributed among the law enforcement and army personnel who have contributed to border protection efforts, János Volner, the party’s group leader, told a press conference on Saturday.

Not only did those who have served on the border accept having to serve far away from their families but they also often had to work in undignified conditions, Volner argued. “Even prison inmates are often given better quality food than those who were tasked with protecting Hungary’s border,” he said.

Answering a question, Volner estimated that the 270 billion forints in question should be distributed among 50,000-60,000 officers.

GÁBOR VONA’S OPEN LETTER TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Dear European Commission, Dear Mr President Jean-Claude Juncker,

As the president of Hungary’s leading opposition party Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary, which is preparing for governmental work after the 2018 elections, allow me to offer my input for the European Commission and for You personally so that you could make a fully informed decision regarding the Hungarian Prime Minister’s request for the European Commission to contribute to the costs of protecting the Schengen border.

We are aware that the European Commission, having experienced a highly increased risk of corruption in Hungary, is rightfully wary when it comes to making decisions on supplying additional taxpayers’ money with regard to our country. We, the people of Hungary, who suffer the most from the systemic governmental misuse of public monies, know that your wariness is highly justified in terms of every Euro entrusted to be handled by the Fidesz government.

However, according to the views of Jobbik as well as the majority of our people, the PM’s latest request is reasonable. Not because the Fidesz government goes beyond its means to protect Europe, on the contrary: through its residency bond programme, it has even allowed criminals to enter EU territory with hardly any control, as long as they paid for it. Therefore it is not the Orbán government whose performance the European Commission should honour. In fact, it is the efforts of the Hungarian people, the police, the soldiers and their supporting taxpayers which the EC should show solidarity with, so that they could continue serving the historic mission of protecting Europe.

We agree with the Commission that solidarity is a state of mind. Indeed, solidarity is vital. Its presence may keep Europe together and make her strong, while its absence may shatter her. Today, the European Union wants to go out of its way to show solidarity for illegal immigrants instead of the European citizens legally residing here. The EU does so despite the fact that the latter (as your spokesperson put it) is not on the “á la carte menu”. The most fundamental European value is: solidarity with European citizens. At a time when a Hungarian, an Eastern Central European citizen gets one fifth of a western EU citizen’s wages for the same work, such solidarity is lost. Let us discover this key European value again. Let the Wage Union be a synonym of the bare minimum of solidarity expected.

Viktor Orbán’s request is justified. So is your fear. And so is our expectation for a wage union to be realized. In light of the above, let me ask You to join us in taking a step forward for a Europe of solidarity. Please support the Hungarian PM’s request but make sure that the current corrupt government strictly spends the requested amount on the wages and the improvement of work conditions for police and soldiers involved in border protection, so that they could earn, instead of their present pittance, honest European salaries for securing the EU’s borders. Let this step be our mutual message that Europe can rely on Hungary in the struggle against immigration and Hungary can rely on Europe in the struggle against brain drain. This is how solidarity, to use your spokesperson’s words, truly becomes a “two-way street”.

Yours sincerely,

Gábor Vona, Jobbik’s president and originator of the European Citizens’ Initiative for a Wage Union

As we wrote, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has asked the European Commission to reimburse Hungary for half its spending on border protection, the government office chief said on Thursday. János Lázár said at a regular press briefing that the total cost since the start of the migrant crisis amounted to 800 million euros. Lázár said the issue of border protection should be discussed “in the name of European solidarity” and “solidarity must be demonstrated in practice”, so the EU should bear a part of Hungary’s costs.

Photo: MTI

PM Orbán: Time for European solidarity on border protection

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, has called on the EU to contribute half the cost of protecting the bloc’s external border incurred by Hungary.

“Our country is protecting not only itself but also entire Europe against the flood of illegal migrants,” the letter sent to MTI by the PM’s press chief on Friday said.

“I am contacting you regarding the protection of the external borders of the European Union and European solidarity. As you well know, Hungary has been following the Schengen rules since the very beginning of the migration crisis, requiring the protection of the external borders,” Orbán wrote, adding that Hungary has built the fence, trained three thousand border-hunters and put them into active service.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that the security of European citizens was financed by Hungarian taxpayers,” he wrote, adding that protecting the external borders had cost Hungary 270 billion forints (EUR 883m), a sum that was unforeseen and “a significant burden” on the Hungarian budget.

“It is high time for European solidarity to prevail in practice in the field of border protection…” the letter said. “We are convinced that, similarly to the cases of Greece and Italy, the European Union should take part in bearing the extraordinary expenses that incurred in Hungary but served the common interest of the European Union,” Orbán wrote.

Hungary wants EU to reimburse half of border control costs

Hungary fence

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has asked the European Commission to reimburse Hungary for half its spending on border protection, the government office chief said on Thursday.

János Lázár said at a regular press briefing that the total cost since the start of the migrant crisis amounted to 800 million euros.

Lázár said the issue of border protection should be discussed “in the name of European solidarity” and “solidarity must be demonstrated in practice”, so the EU should bear a part of Hungary’s costs.

By building a border fence and training “border-hunter” units, Hungary has been protecting the whole Schengen area, not only Hungarian citizens, Lázár said. Hungarian police and soldiers are instrumental in ensuring the safety of all European citizens, he added.

Lázár noted that several countries have already received help from the European Commission. Greece has already received half of the 1 billion euros promised, he said, while Italy is to receive 656 million, and Bulgaria 100 million euros. It is time Hungary also made a request, Lázár said.

Plans to build migrant camps in Libya accord with the Hungarian government’s stance aimed at halting illegal migration outside the European Union, Lázár said.

Lázár noted that for the past two years the government had proposed creating hotspots outside the bloc. Migrants staying at the facilities would be made to follow necessary procedures, he said, adding that the government supported endeavours to return migrants to their homelands and eliminate the causes of migration.

The government has prolonged the state of emergency introduced in connection with the migration crisis until March 7, Lázár said. The state of emergency would have ended on Sept. 7, he noted.

In the first eight months of the year, 773 migrants entered Hungary illegally, Lázár said. Without Hungary’s fence along its southern borders “the numbers would be comparable to two years ago,” he added.

On the subject of EU action taken against Poland, Lázár said that the European Commission and Germany had “launched a campaign” against Poland and were applying “double standards”. Hungary supports the Polish people and their government, he said.

Regarding the lawsuit Hungary and Slovakia has brought against the European Commission on the resettlement quota scheme of asylum seekers, Lázár noted the European Court of Justice is to reach a decision next week. “If the Hungarian government does not come to an agreement with the European Commission or has its doubts”, they will not hesitate to return to court, he said. The procedure so far only aimed to establish whether the quota scheme was in accordance with European legislation, he said.

Government office chief addresses range of topics in weekly presser

In a weekly government press briefing on Thursday, Lázár informed the press: they are contributing to the developments of the municipalities of 152 small localities, inter alia, for the refurbishment of roads, pavements, kindergartens and playgrounds. They will also extend the deadline for the completion of the manuals regarding the townscapes of localities: municipalities will have until 31 December instead of 31 October.

He listed among the Government’s decisions that they will facilitate the importation of textbooks for the National Serb Self-Government, a new watering system will be installed on an area of 27 thousand hectares in the Mezőhegyes Stud Farm, and four medical universities will be given excess grants.

The Cabinet further decided that the Seuso treasures will be displayed at exhibitions to be held in Kaposvár, Kecskemét, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, Székesfehérvár and Zalaegerszeg, and HUF 300 million will be allocated for the organisation of the exhibitions.

Mr Lázár offered his condolences at the press conference Governmentinfo to the relatives of the Kossuth Prize winning film director Károly Makk who passed away on Wednesday. His death is an enormous loss to Hungarian culture, he said.

In answer to the enquiry that, according to press reports, certain senior managerial jobs in state administration could only be awarded to persons with political science degrees obtained from the Public Service University as of 2023, the Minister said: there is no final decision yet, but according to the Government a system should be created where, in the case of certain jobs, a university degree in political science should be a condition of hiring, while in other cases, it would be an advantage.

Mr Lázár was asked about the fact that a former government office manager said: in his view, government offices in the countryside have been filled with people associated with Fidesz. „That is nonsense”, Mr Lázár commented on the claim, refuting that anything like this could have emerged in the context of 35 thousand people.

Those who work in the district or government offices today must work extremely work, he highlighted. He said: „I have sent 3,500 people away from this system, and have terminated 2,000 managerial positions. There is no place, air or money for anyone here to hang around and loaf about, or to find their advancement by sucking up to others.”

In the context of another question concerning the reduction of bureaucracy, he agreed that Hungary will need a smaller state sector and fewer workers employed from public funds in the next few years.

He was also asked about the diplomatic negotiations regarding the CEU. He said: they are making slow progress, there is no result as yet.

In answer to a question concerning the words of András Veres, President of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference condemning the artificial insemination programme, he said: the bishop represented the position of the church, and he has no right or possibility to comment on the conviction of the church. „We are, however, employees of the State, and the goal of the Hungarian Government is to achieve that as many babies are born as possible”, he stated, highlighting: the artificial insemination programme has brought the blessing of a baby for many infertile families.

The Minister said in response to a question about the words of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Tusnádfürdő regarding the struggle with certain media outlets: while he does not normally struggle with the media, he understands what the Prime Minister meant. The media outlets for which György Soros provides financial assistance do have the capacity to shape opinions, he said, and added in answer to a further question: the conservative political family needs allies in the media, and „the businesspeople who invested in this (…) also did so in order to help, and this is only right”.

In answer to another journalist’s question, he said: they are ready to recommend to UNESCO that the cemetery at Fiumei út and the attached Salgótarján út Jewish cemetery should be declared a part of world heritage.

Lázár was further asked about the fact that, according to press reports, waste containing asbestos was left on the demolition site of the entertainment complex Petőfi Csarnok. He said in reply: he instructed the metropolitan government office to investigate these reports.

The government is allocating 5 billion forints (EUR 16.3m) for renewing the ambulance fleet and plans to buy 100 ambulances each year, Lázár said.

He also said that like other EU member states, Hungary will allow new types of drug testing in the country.

In connection with the start of the school year, Lázár said schooling costs for families had significantly dropped this year. Free text books will be provided to more than one million pupils from grade one to nine, he said, adding that more than half of students would get free school meals. Lázár also noted that the wages of teachers would be increased by 3.5 percent on average in September.

Asked to comment on recent remarks by Andras Veres, the president of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, strongly condemning in vitro fertilisation — calling the scheme “poison” and participation in it “a sin” — Lázár said that the bishop stated the position of the church on behalf of which “I do not have the right to speak”. “We, however, are employees of the Hungarian state, the aim of which is to make sure that more and more children are born in the country,” Lázár said. He noted that the IVF programme supported by the government had already helped many infertile couples to have a child.

Photo: kormany.hu

Hungarian foreign minister holds talks with Estonian counterpart

Foreign ministers Péter Szijjártó of Hungary and Sven Mikser of Estonia discussed alliance and defence issues in Budapest on Wednesday, the foreign ministry told MTI.

Estonia, holding the European Union‘s rotating presidency, and Hungary have adopted identical positions on a number of issues in the debates over the EU’s future. Both countries consider it a priority to reinforce the Schengen zone, defend the EU’s borders and intensify cooperation between the EU and NATO, the ministry said in a statement.

They agree that, in the interest of restoring the EU’s competitiveness, taxation and social-welfare policies should remain national competencies and digital projects should be given a boost, it said.

The ministers also discussed Hungary’s contribution to security in the Baltic region. In the framework of Visegrad cooperation, 130 Hungarian soldiers are being stationed in Estonia. In 2019, Hungarian fighter planes will once again take part in defending the Baltic air space, the ministry said.

Further, Hungary supports Estonia’s quest to serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020-2021, it said.

On yesterday Szijjártó visited Romania. Hungarian FM and his Romanian negotiating partner came to an agreement on the permanent opening of two temporary border crossing stations that are currently operating with limited opening hours, and on the opening of a Hungarian Cultural Institute in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), in Bucharest on Wednesday.

Photo: MTI

Denmark’s foreign minister visits Hungary

Denmark is an important ally of Hungary within the European Union and NATO, and there are “no real disputes” between the two countries, Hungary’s foreign minister told reporters after talks with his Danish counterpart on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó said that both countries seek to enhance the EU’s competitiveness and restore security in Europe.

“We agree that illegal migration and terrorism would remain serious challenges for the European Union in the period to come,” he said.

It is another matter of agreement that the EU’s external borders should be protected and the problems eliciting illegal migration tackled at their roots, he said. “It is clear that we have more points of agreement than disagreement,” Szijjarto said, adding that dialogue on the two countries’ disagreements had always been conducted “within the framework of mutual respect”.

Szijjártó stressed that Hungary would not support the EU’s mandatory migrant quota scheme under any circumstances, arguing that such a plan would be equivalent to an “invitation” to migrants headed for Europe and would also strengthen the “business model” of human smugglers.

Answering a question about Poland, Szijjártó said the EU should “cease its constant singling out of certain member states” as long as the bloc “is facing the biggest terrorist threat of all time”.

“We stand with our Polish friends and naturally we will veto any EU sanctions anyone tries to impose on Poland,” Szijjártó said.

As regards economic ties, Szijjártó called Denmark an important economic partner for Hungary. He noted that bilateral trade turnover exceeded one billion euros last year, adding that turnover was up 8 percent over the first five months of 2017. Of the 150 Danish companies employing over 10,000 people in Hungary, three have signed strategic partnership agreements with the Hungarian government, he said.

The minister said both Hungary and Denmark were interested in a fair Brexit.

Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelson stressed the need to defend the Schengen borders and find appropriate ways for halting illegal migration and human smuggling.

He said it was important to ensure that the rules of law and order remain intact and that prior international agreements are not undermined. He added that all EU member states should insist that the bloc’s basic principles are respected.

All three European migration routes active, says Orbán’s advisor

All three major European migration routes are currently active, the prime minister’s chief domestic security advisor said on Thursday. 

Speaking at a press conference, György Bakondi said it was clear that there is an increasingly strong migrant presence in Europe.

He said this indicated that scenarios concerning the integration of migrants into European society had failed, adding that Europeans were also expressing increasingly negative opinions about migrants.

The Hungarian government is consistent in its position that border patrol is a fundamental security criterion, Bakondi said, and stressed that only people who have been properly screened could be allowed into the European Union‘s territory. Further, the problems which are the root causes of migration should be dealt with where they arise, he added.

He noted the government’s position opposing the relocation of migrants within the EU and calls to open the bloc’s borders.

As regards the three major migration routes, Bakondi said recent reports about the Balkans route indicated that there are currently 3.5 million Syrian citizens in Turkey of whom 31 percent work while 42 percent would be ready to set off for Europe immediately.

Greece, which currently has 62,400 registered migrants, receives a daily average of 70-73 migrants from Turkey, he said. Macedonia has around 200 migrants compared with Serbia’s 5,500 of whom 600 are staying near the Hungarian border. There are some 2,300 migrants stranded in Bulgaria, while Romanian police apprehended 2,500 illegal entrants in the first half of the year, he added. Bakondi said there were around 600 migrants stranded in Croatia and around 270 in Slovenia.

Concerning Hungary, he said a total of 19,000 people attempted to enter the country illegally last year. There were altogether 7,300 attempts at illegal entry into Hungary between the beginning of this year and March 28 when the country’s tightened asylum rules came into effect, he added. A further 4,200 people tried to enter Hungary illegally over the remainder of the first half of the year, he said.

Bakondi highlighted a significant increase in the number of illegal migrants who had been apprehended on the Hungarian-Romania border. While only 57 migrants attempted to enter Hungary along this section in 2016, a total of 374 illegal migrants have tried to enter so far this year. In contrast, illegal border crossing attempts along the Hungarian-Ukrainian border have dropped with a total of 131 migrants apprehended altogether last year compared with just 20 over the first half of 2017, he added.

He said 2,226 asylum applications have been submitted in Hungary so far this year compared with a total of 29,432 last year and over 177,000 in 2015. So far this year, 462 applications have been approved compared with 438 last year and 508 the year before.

As regards the situation along the western Mediterranean route, Bakondi said 9,507 people had arrived in Europe from that direction by the end of June, which he said was a significant increase over the roughly 5,000 people who arrived along this route last year.

Citing data from early July, he said 95,086 migrants have arrived in Europe this year along the third migration route, the Mediterranean passage. Among them 7,390 have been relocated, which he said was 18 percent of the number of migrants Europe had originally agreed on relocating.

On the topic of French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to set up migrant hotspots in Libya where asylum requests could be reviewed, Bakondi said this plan was strikingly similar to the one the Hungarian government had put forward two years ago.

Photo: MTI/AP/Santi Palacios

Hungary sticking with border fence, says Orbán’s cabinet

border-migration

Hungary is committed to keeping its fence on its southern border standing, a justice ministry official said on Tuesday.

Hungary’s border fence protects both Hungary and the European Union’s Schengen borders and helps prevent terrorist attacks like the ones that have afflicted western European countries, justice ministry state secretary Pál Völner told a press conference.

Speaking about Hungary’s response to the European Commission’s latest criticism of the country’s border regulations, Völner said Hungary’s border rules “do indeed go against [US financier] George Soros’s plan to settle hundreds of thousands of migrants in Europe a year.” The fence physically prevents migrants from entering the country, while border officers escort those who manage to cross the border back to the transit zones where they can apply for asylum, he said.

“In contrast to what rights groups, people smugglers and Soros want to achieve”, Hungary will only give refugee status to those who have indeed fled countries where their lives were in danger, Völner said, stressing that this practice was in line with international norms. He added that Hungary’s asylum regulations conform to the Geneva Conventions.

The state secretary also defended the state providing refugees with non-cash support, noting that refugees in the transit zones have access to WiFi and television and families have access to a playground.

Photo: MTI

Hungarian government: EU infringement procedures ‘could decide country’s fate’

European Union infringement procedures against Hungary, such as those concerning migration policy and land sales, could “determine [the country’s] fate over the next few decades”, János Lázár, the government office chief, said on Thursday.

At the same time, Hungary has “some two dozen” such disputes with the European Commission, he said, a “normal number”. Out of the 28 EU member states, twelve currently contended with more infringement procedures than Hungary, he told the last of his weekly press conferences before the summer break.

The most crucial three or four procedures concern migration, Lázár said, insisting that “while the EU seeks to organise migration and open the gates, Hungary maintains that borders must be closed and immigration stopped”.

Lázár said he saw a fair chance that the EC may secure support for its plans to set up a European immigration agency, which would involve “stripping members of the right to determine who lives on their territory”. He added that the idea was proposed by US billionaire George Soros.

Responding to another question on the government’s billboard campaign depicting Soros, Lázár confirmed the government’s earlier position that “no compromises will be made that worsen the country’s security” and no concessions made “with regard to anyone’s background”. “Having half a million migrants at the borders is a security issue,” he said, adding that “Jewish communities that raise concerns about the Soros [billboard] campaign should be aware of that.” He added the government respects the position of Hungary’s Jewish communities but also takes into consideration the Israeli foreign ministry’s opinion.

Israel’s foreign ministry has issued a statement that Soros was a legitimate target for criticism.

Lázár noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Budapest next week, and denied allegations that the billboards with Soros’s image would be withdrawn accordingly. The relevant outdoor advertising space has been reserved until July 15, he said.

Asked about the possibility of withdrawing Soros’s Hungarian honors, Lázár said the government would not take a position on whether Soros’s honorary citizenship of Budapest should be withdrawn. He cautioned, however, that this would not be a good move. He added no proposal had been made to withdraw Soros’s Order of Merit of Hungary and neither would he support such a move.

The government does not plan to turn to the Constitutional Court in connection with the Kúria’s (supreme court) decision concerning the wage cap for the chief executives of state-run companies. Only good managers should be entrusted with state assets, and unless they are paid properly, they will turn to the private sphere, he said, adding that the government had taken into account the suggestions of the state auditor, namely that the CEOs should be paid in line with the performance of the economy. An economic upturn is now under way and the companies are also performing well, he said.

In connection with a signature campaign in support of making Christmas Eve a non-working day, Lázár said the government does not propose extending the number of holidays, but one possible option was to gauge public opinion nevertheless.

On the topic of the Socialist Party’s proposal to hold an extraordinary session of parliament on the higher education law, he said there was no point while related negotiations were still under way.

Full agreement with leaders of Baden-Württemberg on protection of external borders, says Hungarian FM

“There is full agreement between the Hungarian Government and the leaders of one of the most significant German states, Baden-Württemberg, with regard to the protection of the European Union’s external borders and maintaining the Schengen Area”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday following negotiations in Stuttgart.

Assessing his political talks in the state capital, Mr, Szijjártó said: There is agreement between the Hungarian Government and the leaders of Baden-Württemberg with relation to the fact that the European Union’s external borders must be “strictly protected”, and that maintaining the Schengen Area with no internal border controls and enforcing the Schengen regulations is “in the fundamental interests of all of Europe”.

In a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, the Foreign Minister pointed out that in addition to extremely close economic relations, education cooperation is also very strong in view of the fact that the government of Baden-Württemberg is one of the founders of the Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest, adding that during his visit to Stuttgart an agreement was also concluded on the fact that Hungary and Baden-Württemberg will also be cooperating more closely in future within the field of dual vocational education.

Mr. Szijjártó also met with Baden-Württemberg‘s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of interior Thomas Strobl, whose Ministry is also responsible for migration and digitalisation.

In addition to the Vice President of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Mr. Szijjártó also held talks with Minister of Justice and European Affairs Guido Wolf and Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, both of whom are also CDU politicians.

Minister of Justice and European Affairs Guido Wolf and Hungarian FM Szijjártó

Mr. Szijjártó also held a series of economy-related meetings, including with the directors of Bosch, the foreign manufacturing company that employs the most people in Hungary.

The Andrássy University is the only German language higher education institution outside Germany, and was funded in 2001 by Hungary, Germany, Austria and two German states: Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The autonomic province of South Tyrol has also been one of the University’s financers since 2011. The University offers masters and post-gradual courses within the fields of history, politics, economics and law.

Baden-Württemberg, which has a population of over ten million, is the third largest and most highly populated German state.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Hungarian government: EU asylum agency would accelerate migration

The government opposes European Union plans to set up a new asylum agency because it would simplify and accelerate migration, the state secretary of the government office told public radio Kossuth on Sunday.

Csaba Dömötör said the new EU agency would be tasked with making asylum procedures quicker and more efficient, which would practically make migration easier. All of which goes against the government’s position, he added.

Borders must be protected and Europe must be able to stop illegal migrants before they cross the border. Help should be taken to the troubled areas instead of bringing people over to Europe and Hungary, he said.

Dömötör said it was no accident that Hungarian opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) MEP Péter Niedermüller has participated in the consultation talks on behalf of the EP. The problem with the new agency is not only that it would speed up migration but it would take away certain rights from member states. Hungary’s opposition parties are supporters of Brussels’ erroneous policies, Dömötör said. He cited Socialist prime ministerial candidate László Botka as saying that the border fences in the south would be taken down if they win next year’s elections.

Migration was the most important topic of the recently concluded “national consultation” survey in Hungary and it was “the umpteenth time” that Hungarian people expressed their wish not to receive illegal migrants and not to participate in the resettlement scheme. There is incredible pressure on Europe from the Mediterranean region and the European Commission keeps pressing for settlement schemes instead of aiming to strengthen the borders, Dömötör said. Hungary’s southern border seal has fulfilled expectations and the pressure of migration has eased but this situation can change at any moment. Analysts in Germany have estimated that around 6.6 million people are ready to set off for Europe, he added.

Dömötör said it was “especially odd” that the EC’s vice president recently compared illegal migrants to the Hungarian refugees of 1956. The 1956 refugees were genuinely running for their lives, they were not attacking police with stones and they were cooperating with the authorities upon arrival in western Europe. The same cannot be said about some part of the illegal migrants: there have been criminal reports filed over their actions, such as in the case of the riot at the Röszke border station, he concluded.

Photo: MTI/EPA/Ciro Fusco

128 illegal border crosses apprehended over the weekend

Hungary fence

“Police apprehended one hundred and twenty-eight illegal border crossers within the territory of Hungary between Friday and Sunday”, the National Police Headquarters informed Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday.

According to the statistics, which are also available on the Police website, 7, 44 and 75 foreigners who were residing illegally within the territory of Hungary were apprehended by police on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Two migrants were apprehended along the Hungary’s border with Romania and Ukraine. Two people were charged with suspicion of people smuggling.

According to the new legislation that came into effect on 28 March this year, foreign nationals who are in Hungary illegally may be apprehended by police and escorted back to the border barrier providing they are not suspected of having committed a crime.

202 migrants were apprehended within the territory of Hungary during the past week and accompanied back to the border by police. During the previous week from 12 June to 18 June, this number was 118. Nine migrants were caught attempting to illegally cross the Romanian and Ukrainian borders last week, the police report states.

Photo: kormany.hu

Asylum rules, fence, transit zones guarantee Hungary, EU safety, says Orbán’s cabinet

A combination of Hungary’s asylum rules, the fence along Hungary’s southern border and transit zones are guaranteeing the country’s security, and the European Union, the deputy head of parliament’s national security committee said in Röszke on Monday.

Szilárd Németh paid a visit to the transit zone established at the border crossing with Serbia.

There are currently 221 asylum seekers staying in the transit zone that can accommodate families and minors aged between 14 and 18 in 4-5 person containers, he told a press conference.

The transit zone provides community spaces, kitchens, washrooms, children’s rooms, playgrounds and a room for prayers, he said, adding that it also ensures permanent medical care, he said.

Police officers carry out their duties lawfully and keep a record of any exceptional incidents, he said, adding that no record showed instances that required the use of force.

He said that a total of 1,340 asylum applications had been ruled on since the start of the year in individual procedures that take 33 days on average.

A total of 125 applicants have been granted asylum or international protection in a first instance ruling, he said.

Appeals have been submitted concerning 136 rejections affecting 450-500 people, said Németh.

Data show that asylum seekers, an increasing number of whom are under greater international protection in the transit zones, are staying put and awaiting a final ruling on their applications instead of travelling on to western Europe illegally, he said.

Photo: MTI