Belgium, Brussels – The leaders of the European Union stated that it is necessary to protect the external borders of Europe, stop the mass of migrants and the Schengen Agreement must by fully respected by all – said the Hungarian Primer Minister Viktor Orbán at the press conference following a two-day summit of the Council of Europe in Brussels.
Regarding the migrant situation, the Hungarian stance had always be clear : control, identification, arrest and deportation. Very precisely as defined in the Schengen convention. This is a hard and expensive operation, but it has proved itself to be efficient for the protection of Hungary – added Orbán.
According to Viktor Orbán, “Europe is now at the point where it should have been a year ago, at least”. West Balkan countries and Austria regained their clear mind, since these countries are now following the Hungarian solution ; building fences, arrest migrants and deport them – he added. Orbán noted also that in his view, Europe’s southern borders protection is only possible by following the conceptions and decisions made commonly by the V4 members.
The situation is deteriorating in the West, and still many are the ones supporting the policy which brings migrants into the Union’s territory, and want to impose by legal means, the repartition of migrants among member states – said the Prime Minister, before he added : the voice of this policy’s partisans was very powerful in the deliberations. Avoiding this and protect ourselves from it will be the task of the next few weeks and will also be one of the topics at the European summit forwarded to March.
“We have reached our goals.”
We have protected the most important European principle : no EU citizen can be discriminated against one another. The results we have reached toward the English claims have been prepared, represented and reached together with all the countries of Visegrád – said Orbán.
Regarding the ongoing negotiations about the demands for reforms from London, Viktor Orbán said the British did not ask for less than Union’s policy change on some specific points. “The British want that we strengthen the European Union”, said the Primer Minister. Strengthening means increasing competitiveness. The British succeeded in getting the EU to be more proactive on the global economical scene, which is important to the future of Europe, even without the United Kingdom – he added.
During the debate on the social legislation, the Hungarian Premier estimated that the freedom of work anywhere in the 28’s Europe remains still, including in the United-Kingdom. It is a common success that freedom of work might not be impeded by any reason – added Viktor Orbán.
The success of the negotiations is evidenced by the fact that Hungarian workers can access care without discrimination against them. What they paid for so far will always be their due, thanks to recent negotiations. The legislation for workers remains unchanged – he added. The negotiating parties agreed that the children of workers in Britain living in another EU country shall receive social assistance tailored to the standard of living of the country.
About families with children in the UK, all aids are due to them, as for British families with children. “We did everything we could, the decision is now in the hands of the British” – said the Hungarian Prime Minister, referring to the upcoming referendum of the so called “Brexit”.
