Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said the external borders of the European Union's Schengen area must be protected.
Asked about Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visits to Ukraine, Russia, China and the United States this summer, on Austrian online news channel OE24.TV, Gulyás said the visits had been attempts to make progress towards peace in Ukraine through diplomacy. He said Hungary was not big enough to achieve peace on its own, but there would be no progress if no one tried.
Concerning disagreements between Brussels and Budapest, Gulyás said honest dialogue was needed. Hungary strives for fair cooperation in relation to its ongoing EU presidency with all of its partners, he said, noting that Orban was the only EU prime minister to be in office for a second presidency.
As regards migration, Gulyás said the EU's Schengen borders needed to be protected. He said decisions and rulings by European institutions were forcing the Hungarian authorities to admit illegal migrants, adding, however, that in this case Hungary would transport them to Brussels.
Gulyás said the question when it came to the issue of migration was what Europe's intentions were. Hungary's government, he noted, says millions of migrants will come to Europe each year unless the Schengen area's external borders are protected.
He said the number of attempted illegal border crossings on Hungary's southern border has fallen to a fraction of what it had been before thanks to cooperation between Hungary and Serbia.
Concerning the formation of the right-wing Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, Gulyás noted that it is the third largest group in the legislative body, saying that if they did their job well they could gain even more sympathisers in Europe.
He also pointed out that thousands of Ukrainian citizens have received asylum in Hungary.