The Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office referred to the fact that the European Commission instituted infringement proceedings against Hungary due to the “Stop Soros” legislative package as unacceptable and as an attack.

At his press conference held in Budapest on Tuesday Gergely Gulyás said: “We continue to see in Brussels’ attitude that those who are defending Europe are subjected to proceedings, while those who invite migrants to Europe are praised”.

The Hungarian government finds this unacceptable as it is contrary to European interests and values as well as to the Hungarian government’s consistent position, he emphasised.

According to the Minister, looking at the statements made by heads of government after the summit of the European Council, one may conclude that since 2015 a fundamental change has occurred in the way migration is seen, and on this matter the operation of the European Commission does not reflect the views of the governments constituting the EU.

He added that this attack makes it clear that Brussels and the Commission wish to continue to pursue a pro-migration policy.

Mr Gulyás said it is especially unacceptable that Brussels also instituted an infringement procedure due to a constitutional amendment. He drew attention to the fact that this amendment stipulates nothing more than what the German fundamental law itself lays down: namely that only those people are eligible for asylum who come from a non-safe third country.

In his view, if refugees are free to choose where they wish to live, they will choose Europe due to the high level of social services and benefits.

We must return to the asylum regulations of the Geneva Conventions, he said, meaning that asylum must be granted to the persecuted in the first safe country.

The Minister also highlighted that the closed transit zones protect all countries of Europe from those seeking asylum without grounds.

It would not disfavour Hungary, but Western European countries, Germany in particular, if people were allowed to move freely after the submission of their asylum applications and were not required to stay on the premises of closed transit zones, he pointed out.

Hungary continues to regard Germany as an important partner, Mr Gulyás said, in evaluation of diplomatic events of recent weeks, adding that while the governments of the two countries do not share the same views on some important issues, such as the issue of migration, Hungary strives to maintain close cooperation with the German government of the day as an ally, and maintaining good relations with the CSU and CDU is especially important for the Hungarian cabinet.

At present Germany, too, is desirous of maintaining such relations, he added, saying that “at this point in time relations must be diverted from scenes of disagreement to scenes of agreement”. He highlighted that the intensification of Bavarian-Austrian-Hungarian relations, against the background of the maintenance of close relations with the Visegrád countries, is a strategic interest of Germany as well. At the same time, he highlighted that this is not made any easier for German politicians by German media outlets which are “completely unbalanced, biased and easy to manipulate”, and rarely render objective accounts of Hungary.

The Minister also spoke about the Israeli-Hungarian summit, stressing that the two countries – whose relations have never been better in the past thirty years – share the same views on a number of issues, and migration is a new challenge for Israel as well. Mr Gulyás described migration as the root of modern-day anti-Semitism, and therefore, he said, the fight against it is most effective if we take a stance against migration.

Jewish communities living in Hungary and our Hungarian Jewish compatriots have the possibility to live in peace and security, he stated.

He also mentioned that Israel renders outstanding performance in sectors requiring the highest levels of knowledge, and therefore, he said, any obstacles that may be in the way of our economic cooperation must be removed.

He said in answer to a question that while the issue emerged, the Prime Minister did not pledge to relocate the Hungarian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and the government has not adopted a decision to that effect. He also said that the cabinet will provide the funds necessary for establishing a museum concerned with Hungarians who emigrated to Israel. In answer to another question he said the visit had not been disturbed by the demonstration organised against the Hungarian Prime Minister in Jerusalem, it had merely given rise to some jokes. The Prime Minister joked about the fact that he could have been honoured by more than seventeen demonstrators, he added.

Mr Gulyás also informed the press that he will attend the Tusnádfürdő summer open university which is an outstanding event of Hungarian-Hungarian relations. In answer to the question as to whether the issue of autonomy aspirations would be on the agenda, he said it is a constitutional obligation to keep this issue on the agenda as according to the Fundamental Law the possibility of the enforcement of community rights in communities beyond the borders must be supported.

Regarding the fact that the US Department of State will not, after all, support certain press outlets in the provinces, he said they accept the Washington decision. He also said it is not a desirable state of affairs if the diversity of the press is ensured via foreign influence as that – rather than resulting in diversity – leads to the fulfilment of foreign expectations.

One of the questions concerned the fact that the organisers and players holding Hungarian citizenship of Transcarpathia’s team were expelled from the territory of Ukraine as according to the Ukrainian security services the players in question are most likely to maintain ties with terrorist or separatist groups. Mr Gulyás said in reply that this decision is one of a long line of anti-Hungarian measures which the Ukrainian authorities have adopted in the past few months and years. “We are making every effort to effectively counter these at every diplomatic forum”, Hungary is considering counter-measures, he added, stressing that protecting Hungarian communities beyond the borders is a constitutional obligation for Hungary.

(MTI)