János Bóka, the minister in charge of European Union affairs, said on Facebook that the questions included in the government’s National Consultation public survey place Hungary’s debates with Brussels in a political context.
Bóka said the government had been raising these questions at all EU forums for years, he said. “We fell on deaf ears in Brussels, so we are now turning to the Hungarian people, and we hope that we will receive clear and definitive answers to our questions, not only in Hungary but also in the whole of Europe next June." He said the Pact on Migration and Asylum would only further deepen the crisis in the system. “According to the Commission, nearly two-thirds of the European processing and settlement capacity should be set up here, with the system specifying annual relocation targets that could be alternatively fulfilled by making payments or certain alternative offers but in case of a crisis situation, obligatory redistribution could be introduced,” he said. The numbers show that the EU is constantly in a migration crisis situation and so in practice, the mechanism will change into a mandatory relocation quota system, he added. “Hungary’s government has been trying to point out the connection between the European quota system and the threat of terrorism for years, and it is in this spirit that we aim to make sure that EU development resources should not serve the targets of terrorist organisations even indirectly,” he said. The EC decided in June 2022 to give EU candidate status to Ukraine but in a country report in November it was clearly established that Ukraine had failed to fulfil three of seven conditions, including respect for the rights of national minorities, he said. “As against this, the Commission, for obvious political reasons, still proposed that the EU should start accession talks with Ukraine,” he added. Also, after the EC introduced temporary import restrictions on Ukrainian grain in five member states in May 2023, they were not extended in September despite the fact that the same conditions persisted, he said. “Once again, the EC made a political decision, not leaving any other option [to the member states] than introducing restrictions at a national level,” he said. “Hungary could only rely on itself once again.” Commenting on the child protection law, he said: “Brussels is trying to force through the withdrawal of the law by way of political pressurising, infringement procedure and financial retaliation, yet the Hungarian regulations are in line with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights”.