At an oath-taking ceremony for 1,206 border guards – or “border hunters” – in Heroes’ Square in Budapest on Saturday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Hungary was the first country to prove that the mass population movement of recent years – which had previously been seen as unstoppable – could indeed be stopped, and could be reversed.
Speaking to the non-commissioned police officers, the Prime Minister said that “We were also the first to declare that we would not let anyone force on us masses of people whose identities and intentions are completely unknown to us”.
He said that “We believe that the future of Europe is not written in some imperial headquarters”, but in the capitals of the European nations: in Warsaw, in Paris, in Berlin – and also in Budapest.
The Prime Minister added that there are some, however, who would accept that the future of Hungary, too, should be decided by others somewhere else: “We have seen this before, we know how it happens, and we also know that it ends in oppression and impoverishment”, he remarked.
According to Mr. Orbán, Hungarians must therefore insist that the Hungarian people alone have the right to decide on the fate of their country. Had the Government acted otherwise, he said, hundreds of thousands immigrants of unknown identity would still be flooding into Europe through Hungary. All those claiming to be refugees would still be crossing Hungary’s borders without screening, he said, adding that the Hungarians had not listened to “the siren calls” which declare that a civilised country admits without hesitation everyone transported by people smugglers to its borders .
Hungary, he continued, has done what common sense and its history dictate: it has stopped the flow. The Prime Minister stressed that Hungary did not wait for others, did not look for excuses and was not afraid of criticism when, at its peak, “the migrant invasion” bore down heavily on the country: instead it organised its own defence.
The Prime Minister said that the Hungarian hero is a unique figure, as “over here heroes for us are not those who conquer and enslave others”, but those who are brave enough to take the fate of their country in their own hands, “who protect and defend that which is ours, our freedom, our families, our way of life, our country”.
He reminded the non-commissioned police officers that “Today you have taken an oath to protect the borders of Hungary, and our wider homeland, Europe”, drawing their attention to the fact that Hungary’s stormy history has taught its people that it is not enough to build a line of defence on the borders, but the line must be repeatedly reinforced and maintained each and every day.
If there is no border protection, if there are no brave men and women to guard the borders, he said, there is no prosperity, there is no security, there is no order, and there is no progress either. All there is, he added, is uncertainty, fear, chaos, anger, and “trucks driving into crowds of people”.
Mr. Orbán asked the border guards to set an example of humanity and resolve, to enforce the laws, and to set an example about which word will quickly spread, resulting in no people smuggler or terrorist even considering entering Europe on this route. He said that this will take perseverance and courage when tens of thousands are besieging the border, and alertness when only a few hundred are trying to enter. Every single person apprehended crossing the border unlawfully sends the message that no one can enter illegally.
The appointment of the 1,206 non-commissioned police officers is part of the fourth phase in recruitment of an extra three thousand members of the standing police force, taking effect from 1 May and 1 July.
In addition to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the oath-taking ceremony was attended by Interior Minister Sándor Pintér and Defence Minister István Simicskó.
The uncut version of the video recordings made at the event can be downloaded in the Press Room.
(MTI)
