According to Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister György Bakondi, attempts are being made to force Hungary to abandon its current migration policy, to accept Brussels’ plans, to let migrants in, to dismantle the fence and to take in people to be relocated under the quota regime.

Mr Bakondi said on the public service television news channel M1 on Friday that Hungary has been continually attacked due to its migration policy since 2015, and the Sargentini report, too, is part of these attacks. The report is “an unprecedented document both as regards its factual findings and the method by which it was adopted, and is full of factual mistakes”.

He also said that the idea that the staff of Frontex, the European Union’s border and coast guard agency should be increased from 1,500 to 10,000 and would be deployed in the protection of the external borders even despite the will of the given nation states emerged unexpectedly after the meeting of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He pointed out that this is unacceptable for the Hungarian government because in consequence Hungary would abandon its national sovereignty and would forfeit the right to decide who may enter its territory and who may not.

Mr Bakondi indicated that the earlier proposal which the government supported was about the need for Europe to be able to protect its external borders, and suggested that should a Member State not be able to do so by relying on its own resources and funds, there should be scope for the deployment of other forces – Hungarian as the case may be – together with European forces in the interest of protecting Europe’s borders. He said there was nothing in the earlier proposal to suggest that this should be implemented “in complete disregard for national sovereignty, by removing the protection of borders from the given nation state’s control”.

(MTI)