Responding to news of Brussels handing out anonymous debit cards to migrants, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Hungarian state channel Kossuth Rádió this morning that Europe is currently confronting a big debate “about humanity, philosophy and politics.” The main question, according to the prime minister, asks whether we are allowed to say out loud that among the migrants, “there is a strikingly large number of criminals” who threaten the security of Europeans.
“The issue of the migrant debit cards came as a surprise even for weather-beaten veterans like me,” Prime Minister Orbán said, adding that Brussels looks at EU institutions as “trafficking agencies,” giving money and visas to migrants. According to the PM, their continued political correctness, the way they forbid people to talk about something that is now obvious, will eventually backfire.
On Brexit, the PM said that the current deal is “satisfactory,” and it protects the interests of Hungarians working and living in the United Kingdom. While in recent years, Hungarians decided that they want less Brussels and more national sovereignty, the British have concluded that they want out.
“Brussels failed to keep migrants out and therefore failed to keep the Brits in,” Prime Minister Orbán said.
Commenting on the asylum case of former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the premier said that it’s surprising how this case has escalated, despite the fact that several other high-ranking political officials have in the past been granted asylum in Hungary. In his view, “Hungary has vast experience and routine in handling such affairs.”
It’s interesting to see, he continued, how the list of openly pro-migration groups coincides with those who oppose the case of the former Macedonian PM. Obviously, this has to do with him being the first politician in the Balkans who built a fence and asked for assistance in stopping illegal migration.
On the government’s role in deciding over Gruevski’s asylum request, Prime Minister Orbán asserted that the further the government stands from these issues the better because it’s up to the competent state authorities to decide according to the appropriate regulations.
“The era of Hungary’s hundred-year solitude is over,” the prime minister said towards the end of his interview, switching topics to the takeaways from last week’s annual meeting of the Hungarian Standing Conference, which assembles representatives of Hungarian communities from around the world. Focusing on relations with Ukraine, he noted with regret that they responded with an anti-Hungary agenda to our Ukraine-friendly policies.
In the past, Hungary took part in every deliberation with an aim to help Ukraine. Therefore, according to PM Orbán, pursuing an anti-Hungary policy will only lead to self-defeat.