“The first step is the protection of European borders and the sending home those who are in Europe with no legal basis”, State Secretary for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács from the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday in Vienna.

Mr. Kovács met with reporters at the Hungarian Embassy to respond to their questions and to inform them with relation to the circumstances of decisions in Hungary. Following the meeting, the politician told Hungarian news agency MTI: When they talk about protecting the European way of life in the European Commission and European institutions, “each country must think for itself about in what manner it is doing everything possible to enable the protection of the European way of life”.

The State Secretary also said that the issue of migration is not really at the centre of attention in Austria. “It is however evident from the events of recent weeks that the questions which have been arising for the past three or four years with relation to migration are appearing once again in the same form, and these will eventually also lead to problems in Austrian domestic politics and in Austria”, he suggested.

However, with relation to the Austrian parliamentary elections due to be held on 19 September, Mr. Kovács underlined: “We will have to work with whoever the Austrians elect”. “The Hungarian Government is in no way trying to influence the decisions of the politicians of the countries around it, and certainly not those of its voters”, he added.

“The Hungarian standpoint has not changes a bit compared to our position three years ago; we clearly and distinctly reject the appearance of a voluntary or mandatory quota system in Europe, since that would essentially be yet another invitation for the arrival of more and more migrants”, the State Secretary declared. “The first step is the securing and protection of European land and maritime borders, and the sending home of people who are here in Europe unlawfully and without a legal basis; discussions on all other management methods, the question of integration and the future of Europe can only take place in the light of and subsequent to this”, he added.

(MTI)