Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said illegal migration could be resolved but the European Union is "reluctant to take that course”.
Speaking at a press briefing with his Visegrád Group counterparts in Bratislava on Monday, the prime minister said the Hungarian position is clear and unchanged that once a request is filed to enter the European Union, the applicant must remain outside of the European borders until their application has been evaluated. “If it was declared that only those whose procedures are completed and to whom a member state has granted entry can enter the EU, the problem would be over,” PM Orbán said. However, the EU is reluctant to take that step, and “we need to continue fighting to that end,” he added. In regards to a budget change proposal by the European Commission, PM Orbán said the funds allocated to fighting illegal migration were “ridiculously low”. He said the proposal, in its current form, was “ridiculous and unfit for discussion”, and called for another EC proposal “that could be taken seriously”. Apart from illegal migration, participants in the V4 meeting also discussed the situation in Ukraine, issues around the Western Balkans and the EU’s green agreement. When it came to the Western Balkans, PM Orbán said it was a shared position that the region’s European integration should be accelerated. The prime minister called for a European Balkans policy that “offers a clear perspective of membership” to peoples in the region. He added that “an impression that Ukraine could sooner become an EU member than countries that have been candidates for years must be prevented”.