The Hungarian government is focused on building alliances with its neighbors to create a strong and united Europe, it has been announced.
János Lázár, the minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, said the government's plan was already in full swing, evident by last week’s Visegrád Group summit in Budapest and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s official visit to Vienna earlier this week.
The minister added that Hungary and Serbia’s joint cabinet meeting scheduled for next week is also in line with this strategy.
Lázár called PM Orbán’s meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz earlier this week as “successful”, saying that the two leaders had discussed all topics of interest.
He said that Hungary has a fundamental interest in deepening security cooperation with Austria in order to protect the external borders of the Schengen area.
Lázár added that he would ask the interior minister to authorize the release of images recorded by infra-red cameras along the fence erected on Hungary’s southern borders in response to a migrant wave. They are trying to enter Hungary illegally by cutting holes in the fence with metal cutters on a daily basis, he said.
Without the double fence or constant patrols of the border, illegal entries would be a continuous flow instead of the current 30-50 attempts made each day, Lázár said.
Also during his weekly press briefing, the minister outlined plans to simplify the Family Home Creation Allowance (CSOK) scheme.
He said the goal is to achieve simpler, faster and cheaper CSOK administration, in the interests of which the government is introducing the principle of declaration during the course of applications, meaning that no documents will need to be provided; it will be enough to make a statement. In addition, bank administration deadlines will also be reduced, he said.