The Hungarian government has submitted a EUR 238 million bill to Brussels

The European Union’s current migration-related proposals run counter to the interests of Europe, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office told a press briefing on Thursday, arguing that such policies would boost immigration and result in the emergence of “migrant ghettos”.

At the same time, Gergely Gulyás said it was welcome that the European Parliament had listened to the objections of the Visegrad Group countries, Germany and the Netherlands to ramming through the proposals. Discussions, he added, would continue in September.

He underlined Hungary’s objection to any kind of migrant redistribution mechanism and quotas. Current proposals would undermine Europe’s interests, he said, arguing that they failed to contain any guarantees against effective border protection and carried the risk of asylum procedures still being executed within the bloc’s borders.

Migration pressure in Europe would mount significantly if the proposals were approved, Gulyás said, noting that the number of people seeking to enter Europe would already reach a record high this year.

Hungary has spent 650 billion forints (EUR 1.7bn) on border protection so far and has requested compensation from Brussels, Gulyás said. The EU has covered less than 1 percent of those costs, but Hungary has asked it to cover at least 50 percent, he added.

If the EU wants effective border protection and a well-functioning passport-free Schengen area, then the European Commission should compensate member states for their border protection costs or make significant contributions to them, he said.

Meanwhile, Gulyás said Hungary had fulfilled the so-called enabling condition, the “milestone” related to the judiciary defined by the EC, adding that there could be no more obstacles to Hungary receiving funding from the EU’s seven-year budget.

Hungary has sent invoices for EUR  238 million in European Union funding for the 2021-2027 financial cycle to Brussels, of which the EU must pay 85 percent, or EUR 202 million, Gulyás said.

The EC has 90 days to confirm Hungary’s implementation of the enabling condition and 60 days to process the invoices and transfer the funds, he said.

Most of the invoices are for advance payments from the Economic Development and Innovation Operative Programme Plus (GINOP) to fund small and medium-sized businesses, Gulyás said.

Once Hungary receives the necessary funding from Brussels, teachers will be given a pay rise, he said, adding that the EC “owed” Hungarian teachers HUF 800 billion.