The Hungarian Government takes the view that illegal migration and terrorism are inseparable, “they go hand in hand” and meanwhile the threat of terrorism is on the increase in Europe, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said at his press conference held in Budapest on Thursday.
János Lázár told the press: at the EU-Turkey summit to be held on Sunday in Brussels – which will also be attended by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – the Hungarian Cabinet will take the stance that Hungary is ready to intensively cooperate in the protection of Europe “in the current war situation”. The waves of illegal immigration must be handled outside Europe, the Minister stressed, adding: the Hungarian Government is opposed to the plan, based on which another one million people would be invited to Europe.
Mr Lázár repeatedly confirmed that Hungary is opposed to the distribution of migrants based on quotas – the related petition has already been signed by more than 900,000 people –, and described the German position as unacceptable for Hungary. Hungary’s proposal is aimed at the reinforcement of the external borders, the enhancement of security, the reorganisation of the Schengen and Dublin systems, the reinforcement of nation state powers and fair relations with Russia, which may help in the present situation, he said.
In the Minister’s view, the Hungarian border closure is working extremely well; “there are not 20 people” who attempted to cross the border, and the defence and police forces are ready to implement further measures, depending on what the neighbouring countries will resort to. If Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia close their borders, we may be compelled to face the threat that migrants will start arriving at the Hungarian-Romanian border section, but in this eventuality, the Government is ready to install a border fence on this section as well, he pointed out.
In answer to a question, Mr Lázár confirmed that no reception centres will be built in two previously planned locations, in Martonfa and Sormás.
The Minister further told the press that there are warning signs which indicate that the illegal immigrants cannot be integrated into the Member States of the EU. In this context, he mentioned the rape case in Finland, of which asylum-seekers from Afghanistan stand accused.
Mr Lázár added: Hungary has been struggling for many long years with the integration of the Roma population living with us for some 600 years. “How could we integrate anyone who is not one of us?”, he asked the question, pointing out: Hungary has no need for immigrants. In his view, opportunities should be offered to the Hungarians living beyond the borders in order to address our demographic and labour market problems.
Mr Lázár was questioned about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s activities. In answer to this, he pointed out that Hungary has a strong interest in the governance of Germany by CDU, and described the Chancellor as a great supporter of Hungary, adding: there is no interest of any kind in the government party losing its leading role or in anything happening to the Chancellor that may involve political consequences. At the same time, he remarked that, according to his experiences, there appears to be an increasing gap between the views of the German political elite and the opinion of the people.
The head of the Prime Minister’s Office was also questioned about the fact that the Alliance of Hungarian Jewish Faith Communes contacted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán seeking further security measures, with regard to the emergence of Islamic extremism in Europe and the terrorist attacks of recent weeks. In his answer, the Minister said: the Government will look into the Jewish organisation’s request at its meeting next week. He indicated that the Minister of Interior has already implemented the security measures which are necessary for protecting the Jewish community in Hungary.
Counter Terrorism Centre is doing well by treating every event as major incident
The Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office took the view that the two cases which were exposed at the weekend could have posed a threat to the security of Hungary, and this is also confirmed by the information released by the Metropolitan Prosecution Service.
He told the press that the two men concerned have a criminal record: one of them was handed down a prison sentence of 2.5 years due to gun violations, while the other one, too, was on the horizon of the police. There was some controversy regarding the extent of the danger the other four persons posed; at the same time, there is additional information regarding one of them which, in the view of the prosecution service, is sufficient to impose the heaviest coercive measure, the Minister added.
He highlighted that those living in every capital city of the European Union are at risk, and in this situation, it is the duty of the police and counter-terrorism agencies to guarantee security, and to evaluate every situation, every item of data and information and every process with particular care. It would be a big mistake if, instead of experts, politicians or journalists were assessing the situation, thereby assuming the responsibility involved in the assessment of risks, he said, adding: the shaking of trust may lead to the under-estimation of security risks.
In Mr Lázár’s words, “we are a country” which 400,000 people have crossed this year, and 170,000 of them cooperated with the authorities. In this situation, one cannot under-estimate a single sign or connection. In this context, he further made reference to the fact that the police apprehended two important figures relevant to the investigations of the British security agencies last week.
He told the press that the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee was already in existence – under different security circumstances – as of 2002, but lost its function by 2010. It was now necessary to regulate the operation of this body in a new decree, laying down the rules regarding the coordination of the functioning of the secret services and the security and policing agencies and ensuring an adequate flow of information between experts, he explained.
In answer to a question regarding the threat of terrorism in Hungary, he said: everything seems to confirm that Hungary as a member of the EU is affected. This is why there is a need for increased police presence, inter alia, in public spaces. Increased protection is more important than what anyone may think about these issues, he stressed, adding: it is better to have more controls than later being held responsible for the lack thereof.
Credit facilities made available for land purchases should be increased
János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office will ask central bank governor György Matolcsy to raise the development bank facilities offered for the purchase of state-owned land. The Minister told the press at his press conference held on Thursday in Budapest: he will initiate the doubling of the credit facility of HUF 150 billion. In reasoning his proposal, he said that farmers who wish to buy state-owned land have to date applied for loan commitments worth HUF 125 billion. He informed the press that some 18,000 hectares of state-owned land have been sold to date.
The Minister also spoke about the Mezőhegyes stud farm: in this context, the Government expressed its regret on account of the fact that, as he said, the opposition parties misled and blackmailed the stud farm workers. He stressed: the Government does not want a conflict with the Mezőhegyes Municipality. The Cabinet will take care of the employment of all 400 workers in the re-established Mezőhegyes model farm, Mr Lázár said. He promised to contact the mayor of the locality in the next few days who is concerned about the potential loss of tax revenue. The Government is ready to explore options of compensation, the Minister said.
According to the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, MSZP “advocates a large farm of eight thousand hectares” in this case. He also said that the Government supports the bill submitted by Balázs Győrffy, MP for Fidesz and President of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, based on which the owner of the land could review the rentals five years after the conclusion of long-term land lease contracts and at regular interviews thereafter.
European Commission effectively attacked Hungary
Regarding the Paks project, the Minister said: the European Commission effectively attacked Hungary by having instituted procedures on all cases put before it for consideration. As he said, he sincerely hopes that those who pursued such a completely ill-conceived immigration policy and miserably failed to stop migration are not out there now seeking revenge, and that it is not mere resentment and anger talking. It is, nonetheless, difficult to separate this from the some dozen procedures.
Paks “is fine, and is going ahead”, he stated, adding that they maintain ongoing consultations with the committee, and are ready for compromises. Mr Lázár described the maintenance of the capacity of the atomic power station and its long-term state ownership as essential also from the respect of the economy and affordable retail electricity.
In answer to a question, the Minister further informed the press that the State cannot be obliged to block the reduction of household utility bills in the infringement procedure instituted in response to a report filed by energy providers; there is a chance, however, that the State may be required to compensate them for their losses. This cannot affect the population, he added. He also indicated that if the State goes to court, instead of coming to an agreement, it will be faced with a lawsuit worth HUF 100 billion, with a dubious outcome.
Mr Lázár was further asked about whether Hungary may be affected by the fact that Russia suspended gas supplies to Ukraine. He said in his answer: this decision did not affect the transit of gas, Hungary’s gas supply is safe, and if necessary, Hungary is also able to supply gas to Serbia.
The Minister told the press that the Government is planning to disburse EU funds worth HUF 2,000 billion next year, and as the first step towards the attainment of this goal, calls for proposals amounting to HUF 1,800 billion will be released in December. As part of this, the Government decided on the launch of transport projects worth HUF 1,300 billion. Mr Lázár mentioned the refurbishment of metro line 3 from an allocation of HUF 125 billion, the locomotive procurements of the Hungarian railway company MÁV worth HUF 85.2 billion, the construction of the section of the M30 motorway between Miskolc and Tornyosnémeti from a budget of HUF 79 billion, the construction of the section of the M6 motorway between Bóly and Ivándárda from an allocation of HUF 48 billion, the renovation of the railway stations of county-ranked cities within the framework of a project worth HUF 42 billion, and the connection of the M7 motorway to the city of Kaposvár from an allocation of HUF 63 billion. He also highlighted that they will raise the sum of the advance which the awarded businesses may claim from the current 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
Mr Lázár informed the press that they had lost the lawsuit related to the release of the Századvég studies, and therefore the Prime Minister’s Office will – electronically – publish the more than 30,000-page-long document to the suing journalists in the next few days.
He further informed the press of the intention of the Government to refurbish the graves of the Prime Ministers in office between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, up to 1947. In his view, this project can be implemented from an allocation of some one hundred million forints. At the same time, he stressed: they will not search for the graves of those convicted of war crimes.
In answer to a question regarding the expulsion of RTL Klub from Parliament, the Minister said: everyone has to observe the rules which are applicable in the building of legislation.
(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)
