Hungary stands by its position that the European Commission should contribute to the costs of the country’s border fence.
János Lázár, the minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, said that the EC had rejected Hungary’s request for the EU to finance half of the costs of the fence.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, refused Hungary’s request for support saying the commission does not consider aid for the building of the fence or extra expenses related to migration to be justified.
Lázár said Hungary’s border seal and other fences had put a break on the wave of illegal migration through the Balkans since 2015. He added that the closure of the Balkan route has helped Europe to get a grip on the migration process.
According to MTI, he said the country has a right to support and it was unworthy of the culture of European cooperation to deprive Hungary of funding.
He said other countries such as Bulgaria received support for building their border fence, so the EC operates a culture of double standards. “We insist that the fence is the solution rather than organizing migration,” he said.
He added that the relationship between Brussels and Budapest will continue to be influenced by the issue this year, especially as the commission is expected to initiate the distribution of migrants already in Europe, with a further 50,000 migrant relocations.
We recently revealed how the Hungarian government had allocated 51 billion HUF to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence for the protection of the borders up until the end of the year.
Lázár said the funds were to ensure that Hungary remains one of the safest countries in Europe and the world, and to protect the country from illegal immigrants.