Four leading Scandinavian countries are taking legal action against Hungary for refusing to take back refugees.
Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland have launched legal proceedings against Hungary for turning away the asylum-seekers, János Lázár, mnister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, told daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet.
Sweden, Germany and Austria have already hinted that they are planning to send refugees back to Hungary, which Minister Lázár interpreted as a sign of the failure to make a decision at the EU summit in Bratislava in connection with the refugee crisis.
Lázár said in connection with the summit that although leaders had established that border defenses need to be strengthened, this does not necessarily guarantee that fewer migrants will arrive in Europe.
The minister was reported as claiming that the direction of the Visegrád Four countries with respect to the refugee crisis is the essence of the situation, and that the V4 countries are in agreement on the planned measures to be taken, the Budapest Business Journal reports today.
At the same time, Magyar Nemzet questioned the unity of the V4 countries on the issue, noting that Slovak President Andrej Kiska chastised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for cynically simplifying the complex problems of the refugee crisis and exploiting the upcoming referendum on October 2 for his own domestic political goals.
While admitting that the ratio of Eurosceptics in Hungarian society is growing, Minister Lázár said the majority of Hungarians believe that Hungary is better off as a member of the European Union, index.hu reported.
Commenting on the referendum scheduled to be held October 2 on the EU’s planned refugee quota, Minister Lázár said that if Hungarians decide to oppose the quota in the referendum, he does not fear this being the potential first step towards exiting the bloc, the Budapest Business Journal continued.
The minister stressed that if the referendum ends with Hungarians voting in opposition to the quota, Brussels will have to take the result into consideration..
Minister Lázár emphasized that the referendum “should not be underestimated, as it is the first chance for Hungarians to express their opinion about the immigration policy of Brussels.”