“The risks of immigration are already affecting Hungary and the Government would not like this to worsen”, Minister of Defence István Simicskó said at his press conference on Saturday, which he held jointly with Parliamentary State Secretary Csaba Dömötör.
Mr. Simicskó stressed that nobody can force the people of Hungary to shoulder the security risks of mandatory relocation. The Sunday referendum is a national issue and it about the future of Hungary, and what is at stake is “whether we can protect our communities and families”, explained the Defence Minister, who asked every voter to rise above domestic policy differences and take part in the referendum and to vote No. “Brussels has already made its decision” on the quotas, which can only be changed by the Member States, he highlighted. “It is now up to us to prevent this decision”, he said.
Among the dangerous elements of the Brussels quota package, Mr. Simicskó mentioned that it would introduce a mandatory procedure for distributing immigrants with no upper limit and that Member States who reject this will be fined, in addition to which it would make family reunification easier, which would further increase the number of immigrants. According to the Hungarian Defence Minister, of the “many risks” of mandatory relocation, the security dangers are the most serious, because “there is a direct link between immigration and terrorism”.
“Because in addition to the arrival of lots of unfortunate people, we cannot ignore the fact that terrorists have also infiltrated their numbers”, he said. According to the information at the Minister’s disposal there could currently be as many as four thousand “terrorists disguised as migrants” in Europe, some of whom could also end up in Hungary if Brussels succeeds in implementing its mandatory relocation programme.
Mr. Simicskó reminded the press about the results of the international investigation from which it transpired that fourteen of the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks in Western Europe had spent various amounts of time in Hungary as illegal immigrants.
According to Csaba Dömötör, for the Government the referendum is about freedom and patriotism. “The referendum represents freedom to the Cabinet because we are insisting on the fact that only the Hungarians should be able to decide who they want to live with”, he stressed. In addition, the vote is also about patriotism, because the Government loves Hungary and believes that it is a wonderful country with all its faults and virtues, and “would like to preserve is as we know and love it”, he said.
The Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary State Secretary also said that “the referendum has never been as actual as it is now”, because in recent days Brussels leaders have made it clear that “they have no intention of withdrawing the quota package”.” Instead, they declared that relocation continues to be one of the European Commission’s important goals and that the Dublin system should be based on a procedure that it would be mandatory for every Member State to take part in”, he added.
Mr. Dömötör highlighted the fact that moreover Brussels also wants to accelerate the implementation of the quota package, as indicated by the fact that in addition to the European Commission, the European Parliament has also issued a resolution on the issue. “If Brussels were to implement the quota package the relocation of immigrants to Hungary would already begin before Christmas”, he declared.
“But the Hungarian Government rejects all this because it believes that nobody can force the people of Hungary to shoulder the risks of mandatory relocation”, said Mr. Dömötör, who also asked everyone to go out to vote and say no to the mandatory quota regardless of their party political affiliations. “What is at stake now is the future of Hungary, which is worth a thirty minute walk to the polling station”, he declared.
In reply to a question, Mr. Dömötör declared that the Government is preparing for a victory on the part of the No’s, and that the referendum “will have political consequences whatever happens”. As an example he said that if millions of people take part in the referendum then it could force Brussels to change direction, otherwise the resettlement programme could begin before Christmas. The Parliamentary State Secretary also noted that if there is a large ratio of No votes then protests against the quota will also gain strength in other Member States and referendums could also be held in other countries as a result.
(MTI; kormany.hu)
