Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to make the issue of migration a focus of his country’s upcoming EU Council Presidency. He welcomes the position of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to examine the outsourcing of asylum procedures to countries outside the EU, Orban told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group. Hungary will take over the EU Council Presidency from Belgium on July 1.
Orban pointed out that Hungary has already created “external hotspots”. These are centers outside Hungary where asylum applications are examined. “If migrants want to come to Hungary, they must first contact a Hungarian embassy, for example in the Serbian capital Belgrade. All papers are checked there. Migrants can only enter if the Hungarian authorities give the green light. Otherwise not.”
Nine years after the refugee crisis of 2015, it has turned out that his warnings at the time were correct, said Orban. “People, you can do what you want, it is your national decision. But you should remember that you are taking an enormous risk if you open your borders to illegal migration,” he said at the time.
“Let’s wait and see what German or French society looks like in ten, 15 or 20 years. If that turns out to be positive, the Hungarians can also think about it.”
