The issue of the management of the migration crisis dominated the meeting of EU ministers and state secretaries responsible for community affairs held on Tuesday in Luxembourg with a view to making preparations for this week’s summit of heads of states and prime ministers, Szabolcs Takács, State Secretary for EU Affairs of the Prime Minister’s Office said upon rendering an account of the debates held, adding that a significant number of Member States are opposed to receiving refugees on the basis of mandatory quotas.

The politician confirmed that the Member States take diverging views on the issue; the Visegrád countries reject the mandatory quotas, and only find any solution acceptable on a voluntary basis, with regard to the specificities and capacity of the individual countries.

Mr Takács stated that Hungary is urging a geographically comprehensive solution; however, the EU documents adopted on the issue continue to focus on the situation in the Mediterranean. At the same time, the State Secretary pointed out that representatives of several Member States recognised at the meeting that Hungary is exposed to extreme migration pressure.

The State Secretary for EU Affairs admitted that the situation which has evolved in the Mediterranean requires urgent attention, while reiterating that a solution must be found to this problem also for the long term. Mr Takács confirmed that Hungary would like an international conference to tackle the issue of the migration pressure coming from the Western Balkans – similar to the conference which was held in Malta in order to deal with the migration crisis in the Mediterranean – which is likewise fully endorsed by the institutions of the EU. Mr Takács reported that no one objected to the proposal which means, in his understanding, that other countries are beginning to recognise the situation in Hungary, and it is therefore paramount to keep the topic on the agenda.

In answer to a journalist’s question, Mr Takács said that the fence to be erected on the Hungarian-Serbian border was not discussed either formally, or informally.

The State Secretary reported that Macedonia was also mentioned at the meeting, and while Hungary and 2 to 3 other Member States find it important that the EU should send out a positive message to Skopje as regards Macedonia’s EU integration, one of the Member States rejects the slightest reference to its accession.

“This is a theoretical, strategic question for Hungary; something that we cannot compromise on”, Szabolcs Takács underlined, taking the view that a concession was reached eventually which is not progressive in every respect but is at least not a step backwards.

(Prime Minister’s Office)