Viktor Orbán consulted several times overnight via telephone with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann concerning the latest developments in the refugee crisis, and the two politicians will meet for bilateral discussion next week, the Hungarian Prime Minister said at an early afternoon press conference on Saturday.
As he explained in the statement, which was aired on Hungarian television’s M1 Actual Channel, the meeting could take place following the meeting of Austrian, Czech and Slovakian heads of government on Monday, adding that “there is an obvious difference of opinion between us”, and noting that according to the Hungarian standpoint, with which he too agrees, “all European measures are pointless without the suitable protection of borders”.
“Until we make it absolutely clear to immigrants that everyone will protect Europe’s borders, meaning that not just Spain and not just Hungary, but everybody will protect them and we are capable of keeping immigration within controlled conditions (…), tens of millions of people will come to Europe. They will keep coming until we do so. And it would seem to me that politicians in Europe are hesitant to declare this”, Prime Minister Orbán said.
The Prime Minister pointed to the protection of external borders and channelling border crossing towards an orderly framework as the most important tasks ahead, adding that “many people in Europe underestimate the level of risk”, because we are not talking about 150 thousand people or a mass of half a million people who can be distributed according to quotas, but about “millions and tens of millions”.
“The supply of immigrants is inexhaustible”, the Prime Minster declared, adding that more and more people are arriving from regions that are not being ravaged by war in the hope of a better life. “If we let everyone in, we will destroy Europe”, he said, adding that border security will be reinforced next week, but the support of Parliament will be required, for instance through voting to authorise the deployment of the Hungarian Defence Force in similar situations.
Mr. Orbán said that crippling motorway traffic is unacceptable, and accordingly groups of immigrants travelling by foot on Hungary’s motorways will be directed away from the highway.
In reply to a comment by the press with relation to the fact that a further five thousand people have crossed the Macedonian-Serbian border and are heading for Hungary, the Prime Minister said that border security will “improve noticeably” after 15 September, when the legislative amendments adopted by Parliament on Friday come into force.
The Prime Minister said the current situation was a “very difficult mental situation”, because “everyone feels sorry for the people we must act against”, but allowing these people to “simply decide to cripple the life of a country” cannot be a solution.
“They must also be compelled to cooperate and behave in an orderly fashion without the need for the use of force on the part of the police”, the Prime Minister said with reference to the migrants, and expressed his acknowledgement for the excellent work performed by the police.
(MTI)
