Commenting on migration, PM Viktor Orbán said in his regular Friday morning interview that over the past six years since 2015, border fences have been built not only by Hungary but also by Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. This shows that Hungary’s position which it took “in solo” in 2015 is slowly becoming a majority view in Europe, he said.
A total of 92,000 illegal border entries were prevented in the first nine months of this year, which shows that the pressure of migration increased three to four-fold over one year, Orbán said.
Hungary has
spent nearly 600 billion forints on border protection so far,
which is approximately the same sum that the government will give to parents in the form of tax rebates next year, he said. As a result, it is a reasonable demand by Hungary that the EU should pay back at least a part of this money, he added. Orban warned that migration was making the pandemic spread faster, with illegal migrants transmitting infection.
Hungary is ready to
open a corridor for migrants to “march up to Austria, Germany and Sweden”
but refuses to allow Brussels to force its opinion on Hungary, Orbán said.
It is up to the Hungarian people to decide who should be allowed to enter the country and whom they want to live with, he added. “This debate will stay with us for years because we live in an age of epidemics and migration,” Orbán said.
Orban calls on EC to reimburse Hungary’s border protection costs
On the topic of utility costs, Orbán said Hungary’s left-wing opposition had made it clear that they would raise the price of electricity and gas to market level if they won next year’s general election. “The left’s position is clear: if market prices are rising, the people should also pay more,” Orban said. He added that his government, on the other hand, had fixed household utility prices in the interests of families and pensioners. Even though the price of electricity and gas has increased two to three-fold in Europe in recent months, Hungarian households have not seen their utility bills rise, Orbán said.
“That’s how it’ll be as long as the country is governed by a nationally minded government,”
he said.
Meanwhile, Orbán said it was a “foolish idea” on the part of Brussels to introduce “a so-called climate protection plan that will further raise prices” when energy prices were already rising. But governments have room for manoeuvre, Orbán said, adding that it was possible to fight climate change by making the biggest polluting companies bear the costs for it instead of households.
He said this was currently the most contested issue in Brussels,
as the more prosperous western European countries wanted to impose a tax on homes and vehicles while the central European countries were resisting such a measure. The main question at next month’s summit of European Union leaders will be which side prevails, he added.
Orbán said the increase of the minimum wage to a monthly 200,000 forints had been a “great achievement”, adding that he had not heard of any international example of a 20 percent minimum wage increase within one year. In order to achieve this, the government agreed to a significant tax cut at talks with employers, he added.
Ten years ago, when the Gyurcsány-Bajnai governments were in power,
the average wage was at the same level that the minimum wage will now reach,
he said.
RIGHT!
They can put-op or shut-up.
What about International law? The United Nations 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, both relating to the status of refugees. He does not talk about that much…..
Fidesz-KDNP wil win the election next year because Fidesz-KDNP protects Hungary from illegal immigrant and protect the Hungarian children.
Hungarian haters will take a beating — again.
The should be getting used to it by now -:)
A polite comment to The Truth.
These people are not refugees, they are economic migrants. There are establushed procedures for refugees not migrants.
WOW I can already hear Austria Germany France and Sweden begging Orban to fortify those fences and keep the migrants out….brilliant move by a master politician, by all means, open a corridor and let hundreds of thousands pass through….
Bruce, there has never been a proper legal distinction between the 2 in international law . That is why all countries are supposed to have a functioning and transparent asylum process which says ‘no’ or ‘yes’ to applicants when these people turn up on the doorsteps of their countries.
Orán: Hungary is ready to open a corridor for migrants to “march up to Austria, Germany and Sweden”
I believe that Orbán made a symbolic statement pointing out the hypocrisy of EU and far-left, liberal. Marxist member countries that pretend to solve the illegal migration by dumping on Hungary for standing-up of the right of Hungary and any sovereign nation to determine who and how may enter their territory.
The list of these hypocritical countries is far from complete but Orbán’s message is clear.
Liberals and communists disgust me for trying to force others to do their bidding but never accepting responsibility for their actions.
Orbán ezt mondta:
“Ha jó nektek, vigyétek őket! Tehát mi készen állunk arra, hogy nyitunk egy korridort, akinek kell, és a migránsok fölmasírozhatnak ott Ausztriáig, Németországig, meg Svédországig. Ha kell nektek, vigyétek.”
No corridor needed – they do not want to stay here in Hungary, anyway … Same reason many of our well-educated, talented youngsters are leaving for … EU countries ??? Should we consider them “economic migrants” – or “unpatriotic” ? Curious!
Need to read and understand Orban’s statement in Hungarian and it become clear why a corridor is needed. We don’t want them to get lost and inundate V4 countries of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland but go directly through Austria to Germany and Sweden.
Give them an opportunity to show how much they love these violent useless invaders.
Make them happy.
I see no problem with Hungarian youngsters finding jobs in other EU countries. They have a right to seek jobs in any EU country that has a job opening for them. Hungary will be better off with their experiences when they return home.
Not a good idea.