Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said people across the European Union are looking to their governments to protect the bloc’s borders and prevent migrants from entering the region.
In a video published on Facebook, the prime minister said people want two things, not just in Hungary, not just in central Europe, not just in Italy, not just in Austria, but all over Europe.
“They want us to protect the borders to not allow migrants in, and thereby protect the security of our people,” PM Orbán said in the video.
People want their governments to conduct procedures for migrants already in Europe and “take them home,” he said. European democracy “is in trouble” because its leaders have been unwilling to do so, he added.
PM Orbán also said he expected sharp debates during the two-day EU summit. He said it was possible participants would come to a consensus concerning the introduction of full protection of the bloc’s external borders and setting up refugee camps outside them. The prime minister said those two moves would not resolve the problem but would constitute a significant step forward.
PM Orbán said he met Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for bilateral talks and had convened representatives of the Visegrad countries and met French President Emmanuel Macron.