Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács takes the view that if the EU extends tough treatment to its own nationals, it must extend the same treatment to immigrants.

The Government Spokesperson made this statement on the Thursday evening programme of the public service television news channel M1 in connection with the latest measures related to the legal border closure. He said: an EU proposal package will be submitted at the beginning of March which, if approved, will require every EU national to be registered upon entry into and exit from the EU. If this is how the EU treats its own citizens, the relevant regulations cannot be any more lenient towards those arriving illegally either, he said.

He added: we must put an end to the practice that immigrants submit their asylum applications in Hungary, and then disappear and move on to Western-Europe.

Mr Kovács said regarding the 30 per cent pay rise to be implemented at state-owned companies in multiple stages that, in the first phase, the employees of the railway company MÁV, the coach company Volán and the Hungarian postal services will receive a pay rise, while the Government is also ready to negotiate with respect to the pay rise of the workers of municipally owned companies.

In the context of the OLAF report, the Government Spokesperson remarked: it is now the duty of the Hungarian investigating authorities to uncover the details. The political responsibility involved is, however, evident, he said.

(MTI)