On Monday evening, Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács told public television channel M1 that as a result of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto, the negotiation on the direct resettlement of migrants from Turkish refugee camps according to the original proposal’s form and content was brought to an end; a completely new approach must be employed.

The Government Spokesperson said that Hungary “is not selling a pig in the poke”, as the Prime Minister had already emphasised in his doorstep interview before the summit that “direct resettlement is out of question”.

Speaking about the EU concessions to be granted to Turkey, Mr. Kovács said that the Hungarian government’s position on visa facilitation or potential visa waivers for Turkish citizens is clear: “there is a European area which awaits integration” called Ukraine, and the EU should grant this privilege to Ukraine first. After that, we can start discussing the possibility of providing it to Turkey as well.

He said that, according to media reports, they have “raised the stakes” on financial aspects as well: instead of three billion euros, Turkey is now asking for six billion from the EU to provide care for migrants.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)