Immigration will be one of the most important issues of the period to come from the viewpoint of Hungary and the Hungarian nation, and on this issue it is the Hungarian people that will have to decide, the State Secretary for Government Communication at the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister stated on Friday at a press conference held in Eger.

Bence Tuzson told the press that the European Union is preparing to approve a permanent mandatory settling mechanism. This would mean that in the future it would not be the Hungarian people, nor the Hungarian Parliament that would be able to decide on the fundamental issue of whom the Hungarian people should be living together with in Hungary, he added.

He highlighted: this is a strategic issue for the nation which may determine the very existence of the nation for as long as 100 years, and this is why the Government has initiated a referendum on the mandatory quotas.

He reiterated: 15,000 people have already signed the initiative in Eger which rejects the mandatory settlement quotas. In order, however, for this rejection to become a binding decision and to underline the policy of the Hungarian Government, it is necessary to hold a referendum, he said.

He remarked: the most important duty of the Hungarian Government is to make the country safe. To this end, it has taken the necessary measures: by having erected the southern border fence, it protected Hungary from the flood of migration.

We have now, however, the calm before the storm: the flow of migration is not abating, and the Government will therefore deal with the reinforcement of the border closure and the construction of the fence also on the eastern, Romanian border section within a few weeks as top priorities, he indicated.

In order to put the issue of security into a perspective also from the viewpoint of Eger, the State Secretary reiterated that the Heves County seat is a major tourist destination: in the first ten months of last year 491,356 guest nights were recorded in the city which represents a 17.5 per cent increase compared with the year before, in excess of the national average.

He further pointed out that based on the agreement entered into as part of the Modern Cities Programme, the city will undergo major tourism developments, including the refurbishment of the Eger Castle.

Mr Tuzson also said that the State has a variety of tasks to attend to in the interest of further increasing tourism. It is required to set up a national tourism agency which will coordinate the resources available for the purposes of tourism as well as a number of diverse responsibilities.

However, in order to keep up the pace of growth in tourism, and the some 8 per cent share of the sector in the GDP, it is important that Hungary should be perceived as a safe country, he pointed out.

Zsolt Nyitrai, Member of Parliament for Eger and the region and Ministerial Commissioner, said at the press conference that, together with László Habis, Mayor of the city (Fidesz-KDNP), they jointly initiated that Eger should submit a bid for the title European Capital of Culture 2023 because they believed that the city was suitable for and capable of showcasing its culture to the whole of Europe. He reiterated: the city already submitted a bid in 2004.

Mr Nyitrai said he was pleased that every member of the Municipal Board supported the submission of a bid. They succeeded in finding a cause which both government and opposition parties are able to support, he added.

The goal is that Eger’s bid should rest on a wide social base and unity, and they wish to mobilise the whole of the city in the campaign. The bid will be based on three pillars: faith, science and art, he said.

In his words, they wish to introduce the city’s classical values which are, however, combined with „a large portion” of innovation on a European scale. Eger deserves to become a European Capital of Culture as the fact that Europe today has the culture that it has also depended on the resistance of the people of Eger, Mr Nyitrai pointed out.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)