Brussels continues to press forced settlement, Csaba Dömötör, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister told the Hungarian News Agency MTI in response to the European Commission’s (EC) migration proposals published on Wednesday.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, member of the EC responsible for migration policy announced at his press conference in Brussels that the body had issued a proposal for a joint EU resettlement framework programme in order to enable those in need of international protection to reach Europe in an organised and safe manner. The EC additionally proposed the conclusion of the reform of the common European asylum system, „with a view to creating a more effective, fairer and more humane asylum policy”.

Mr Dömötör takes the view: based on the plans, Brussels is obviously pressing on with the forced settlement concept, and instead of protecting the borders more effectively, it is developing ever more detailed plans for the facilitation of immigration.

Based on the plans announced on Wednesday, Brussels would impose the obligation on every EU Member State to take in immigrants, he stressed. The package of proposals also includes proposed annual settlement schemes. This means that, instead of the Member States, Brussels would determine the number of immigrants to be settled in each country. „As EU citizens, including Hungarians, were not consulted on this, these proposals are unacceptable”, the Minister of State said.

Mr Dömötör believes that the package of proposals does not resolve the migration crisis. On the contrary: it creates new problems. „It is an invitation to further millions”, he highlighted.

The Minister of State stressed: the position of the Hungarian Government remains unchanged. Only the Hungarian people can decide whom to take in and whom to live together with. We need the referendum against forced settlement today more than ever. This is why it is important that everyone should take part in the referendum to be held on 2 October, he added.

(MTI)