János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said at his press conference held in Budapest on Thursday: Brussels’ proposition is anti-democratic because it seeks to take away the Member States’ right to sovereignty. In other words, the EU wants to tell us who should live in the Member States.
In extreme circumstances, this may even mean resettlement on a scale which may affect Hungary’s demographic makeup, he said. In his view, this scheme is about the plan that those who „invited” the immigrants to Europe would now distribute „the rest”, after „having selected the best”.
At the same time, the Brussels plan is also inhumane, Mr Lázár continued, because it fails to take account of the migrants’ intentions, given that they do not want to come to Central-Europe, but want to stay in Germany.
The scheme to determine how much an individual is worth based on his country of origin conjures up the darkest years of Europe, he said regarding the European Commission’s plan, based on which EU Member States would be allowed to deny the resettlement of migrants in their countries for a quarter of a million euros (HUF 77.7 million) per capita. He stressed that this is contrary to all the core values of the EU, and Hungary, along with the rest of the V4 Member States, firmly refuse the idea that Brussels should want to determine how much a human being is worth. What formula or calculation method did they use to determine the „going rate” of an immigrant?, he asked. The Minister branded the European Commission’s proposition as gross blackmail on the whole.
In answer to a journalist’s question, the Minister also pointed out: it would be unfair of Germany if, as one of the world’s richest countries, it requested money from Hungary for the settlement of the issue. Mr Lázár further said: the Government is unable to stop Brussels on its own, and this will take united action on the part of every Hungarian. The Government therefore believes it is important that Parliament should vote on the referendum on the mandatory settlement quotas within the shortest possible time. In response to a question concerning the anticipated turnout, he indicated: in his view, „the Government needs a valid and successful referendum”.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán asked Interior Minister to take immediate action
The Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office told the press: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán asked Interior Minister Sándor Pintér to take the necessary actions with immediate effect on account of the fact that illegal migrants harassed girls in Körmend who were playing handball.
According to the Minister’s information, the accommodation provided for illegal migrants is located on the premises of the police secondary school. The migrants who are put up at the reception point molested and harassed girls who were playing handball in the institution’s sports hall, and they failed to stop this even despite the warning of the officer on duty, Mr Lázár said. He added: according to the police report, they broke the windows, and therefore the girls were forced to end their training. He said: this is an open reception centre where there have been 81 people put up since its opening on Monday.
The Government will contact István Bebes (Fidesz-KDNP), the Mayor of Körmend, the Minister indicated, also reiterating that the leaders of the city protested against the opening of the centre. He added: the Körmend centre is only open on a temporary and transitional basis, depending on the number of people arriving at the border.
By his account, there were 2,771 individuals at alien police institutions on 21 April, and this year 10,567 migrants have arrived at the Hungarian border to date in total. He told the press: the Körmend reception centre has a capacity of 300, there are 490 people in the Vámosszabadi open institution, and 120 in Bicske. There are 440 persons at the Kiskunhalas sealed and guarded reception centre, there are 28 individuals in Nyírbátor, and another 153 in Békéscsaba, he said. He indicated that there is a proposal before Parliament, based on which an eight-kilometre border protection zone would be designated, and if anyone is apprehended within that zone, they would be immediately turned back.
In answer to a question regarding an article in the German newspaper Die Welt – which raises the question as to whether Hungary has designated a camp in Körmend in the hope that the asylum-seekers would leave for Austria – Mr Lázár described the claim made in the article as a lie, and said that upon the designation of the reception centres, they were looking for localities where there are state properties which are lockable, should the need arise, and where there were such stations also in the past. He added: in the case of Körmend, the main reason was the presence of the police secondary school in the city.
European Commission is ready to agree on project
The European Commission is ready to agree on the implementation of the Paks atomic power station enlargement project, subject to the availability of appropriate legal and financial guarantees, Mr Lázár said in evaluation of his talks held in Brussels at the beginning of the week. The Minister told the press: one of the three Brussels procedures related to the Paks project, which concerned the classification of technical data, has been closed.
The Minister indicated: the Government is making efforts to come to an agreement on the other two procedures as well within the shortest possible time. In his view, there is a fair chance of this happening. In one of these procedures, Brussels is investigating the issue of prohibited state aid, while in the other one, the issue of whether Hungary was free to come to an agreement on the project with Russia instead of inviting a tender on the market.
He also told the press: the Court of the European Union confirmed the validity of the provisions of the EU Directive on tobacco products on Wednesday. He evaluated this as „a glorious victory” over Philip Morris, and in the light of this, he said, the Government will discuss the schedule of the introduction of standard packaging for tobacco products as soon as next week. At the same time, the possibility of banning menthol capsule cigarettes also emerges.
Mr Lázár said in answer to a question regarding the future of support institutions: the Government Decision is complete. However, the Prime Minister wanted to consult some State Secretaries in order to review the impact of the reforms.
Decision on reorganisation of National Health Insurance Fund adopted
The decision on the reorganisation of the National Health Insurance Fund (OEP) was adopted on Wednesday, Mr Lázár announced.
The Minister said: they are engaging a high-level expert to help divide the responsibilities of OEP between the Hungarian State Treasury and the Ministry of Human Capacities. Most of the responsibilities, such as the payment of benefits in kind, will be transferred to the state treasury, while the rest of the tasks will be delegated to the Ministry in one or two stages. This decision was adopted on Wednesday, he indicated. OEP and several senior ministerial executives raised concerns, but the only issue that is subject to compromise is the schedule of reorganisation, he said.
In answer to a question, Mr Lázár said that the funding of hospitals will be transferred to the Ministry of Human Capacities in the first phase, but there are experts who suggest that, this being a fiscal issue, it should be delegated to the Ministry for National Economy. Regarding the central bank’s foundations, the Minister described their social responsibility as unquestionable, adding that the foundations did not sustain any financial disadvantage. Upon speaking about the central bank’s government securities purchases, he said: „the central bank did not engage in any prohibited activities”.
In the context of the purchase of a 15 per cent stake in Erste Bank Hungary Zrt., he indicated that the Government is not planning to acquire stakes in other banks. The Minister was also queried about the changing of the excise duty on petrol and cigarettes. He said: the Government proposed that fuel prices in Hungary should be adjusted to the world market prices. At the same time, regarding the excise duty on tobacco products – the raising of which is required by the EU by the end of 2018 –, no decision has been taken yet as to whether it should be raised in one or several phases. The Ministry for National Economy presented to the House a proposal on a single-stage increase, but this has yet to be debated, he told the press.
Mr Lázár was further asked about the proposal regarding the classification of certain data of state-owned companies in the law which serves to lay the foundations for the budget. He said in justification of this proposal, inter alia, that the State repurchased assets worth thousands of billions of forints, meaning that these state assets must be managed partially under market circumstances. He added: the Constitutional Court adopted a clear decision, based on which – in the case of universal services – the disclosure of data cannot be denied with reference to business interests. In answer to a question, he also said: he was a great supporter of the construction of the Felcsút narrow-gauge railway line, and even proposed that the original narrow-gauge railway line should also be rebuilt between Fertőd and Nagycenk.
Upon speaking about education issues, he described it as a fait accompli that daily physical education as well as mandatory religious and moral education will remain in schools. He informed the press: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán attended the Board meeting of Mol Nyrt. after the submission of the budget and the tax laws in order to review the potential for economic growth in the fields of the chemical industry and the energy sector next year.
Regarding the Monday parliamentary debate on EU developments, he said that the Government is planning to introduce a new system: they will prepare quarterly reports for the parliamentary parties on the utilisation of funds, will be ready to discuss them in the relevant committees, and will hold parliamentary debates on the issue in the spring and autumn. He further told the press that the leadership of Fidesz discussed and supported the ministerial concept regarding the reform of education. He indicated that State Secretary for Health Care Zoltán Ónodi-Szűcs’s negotiations regarding pay rises are close to reaching a constructive agreement. In answer to a question, he said: he does not rule out possible pay rises in health care already this year. He indicated that the Government is not planning changes regarding the status of the registered common-law spouse relationship.
Concerning the disclosure to the public of the documents related to the Alstom case, he said: it is difficult to locate them because, as Ferenc Gyurcsány said, „they have been discarded”. He also spoke about the planned free trade agreement between the EU and the United States: a task force under the supervision of the Foreign Minister is examining the draft topic by topic, and a report will be issued next week regarding the impact of the treaty on the basis of the available documents.
Mr Lázár spoke about the payment notice served upon the National Roma Minority Government as well, and said: according to his information the Minority Government has not yet paid, but has handed over a payment schedule to the Ministry of Human Capacities.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
