“All of the solution strategies included in the text awaiting adoption at the EU summit on Thursday-Friday must state as their final target that the primary goal of all measures is to slow and eventually stop the process of migration”, Szabolcs Takács told reporters following a meeting of EU Affairs Ministers in Brussels on Tuesday.
“Possible solutions to the migration crisis received special emphasis at the meeting”, the Minister of State for EU Affairs from the Prime Minister’s Office said. Mr. Takács also stated that the statement adopted in Prague by the Visegrád Group on Monday served to protect the both economically and socially extremely important Schengen acquis according to specific Central European perspectives.
The Minister of State said with relation to this that at the meeting, First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans had praised the joint statement on migration adopted by the Visegrád Group. According to the First Vice-President, the statement is a document that strives to provide a substantive contribution to joint European efforts to find a solution and “is something we can work with”.
Mr. Takács stressed that the V4 thinks it is important that a sustainable solution for the protection of the European Union’s external borders should be established. Reinforcing the Greek-Macedonian border must be regarded as one of the most important elements of crisis management, which does not correspond to action against Greece, but is the enforcement of joint European interests, the Minister of State declared, adding that in addition Greece must be provided with all possible assistance to enable it to implement the recommendations it has been given for the protection of the Schengen system. We must strive to realise the protection of the European Union’s external borders at Greece’s southern border, but if this is unsuccessful then Europe cannot remain unprotected from migration, Mr. Takács said.
With relation to border protection, at the meeting the majority of member states supported the Hungarian proposal according to which asylum seekers should not be allowed to leave so-called hot spots – registration points established for refugees – until a final decision has been made on the issue, the Minister of State said. With relation to the other main topic of the Thursday-Friday EU summit, the so-called Brexit, meaning the possibility that the United Kingdom’s might leave the EU, Mr. Takács said that the participants of the meeting had argued in favour of maintaining the unity of the European Union.
The politician emphasised that Hungary welcomes the British proposal that serves the strengthening of the spheres of authority of national parliaments. Expanding the powers of national parliaments would enable Europe to act more effectively with relation to external and internal challenges, the Minister of State said. The main task of the so-called General Affairs Council (GAC) was to prepare for the European Union summit due to be held during the second half of this week.
(Prime Minister's Office/MTI)
