Orbán in three-city migrant initiative

Orbán in Brussels…

Brussels, Vienna and New York were the important stops of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s migration tour this past week. At the summit in Brussels five of his six proposals were accepted but the “most important” one met with opposition. In Vienna Orbán said Austria has “renounced” its friendship with Hungary “in the hardest of times”, while at the United Nations he discussed the migrant crisis with his Czech counterpart and the Egyptian president.

Hungary will either protect its “green border” with fences or, “if this option is not that popular”, may let migrants pass through in the direction of Austria and Germany, Orbán said in Brussels after attending an emergency summit on migration. “The Austrian chancellor stated it unambiguously that if we are only able to halt migrants with a fence, we should rather let them through,” he said, adding that this was something Hungary would have to consider.
Orbán said the summiteers had come to terms on five of Hungary’s six proposals but failed to agree on the sixth, namely that Greece should protect its borders in co-operation with the European Union if it is unable to do so alone.
“It is a pity because this was the most important proposal,” he said. “In this sense, Europe’s external border is still not defended and the migrants breaking international agreements continue to come through Greece.”
He said the participants lacked determination, courage and resolution to take this step. “I think they did not consider this issue as important as we Hungarians did.”
In addition to EU control along the Greek border, Orbán’s six proposals included separating refugees and economic migrants before they enter the Schengen area, and drawing up an EU list of countries considered safe to live in. He proposed that every member state should increase contribution to the EU by 1 percent and cut spending by 1 percent, resulting in EUR 3 billion to be spent on refugees.
Further he proposed developing a partnership with states whose involvement in handling the migrant crisis is unavoidable, such as Turkey and Russia. Orbán said global quotas should be introduced and all countries in the world should be involved in managing the migrant crisis.

EU summit must lead to change in PM policies – opposition

… and in Vienna

The Socialist Party said after the summit that Orbán “has finally arrived at the politics of commonsense” and admitted that the migrant crisis can only be overcome with help from Europe. Party leader József Tóbiás said Orbán “finally realised” that the migrant crisis is not a “Hungarian problem” but a “European one”.
Tóbiás actually applauded Orbán’s “U-turn” and said he “now represents what the Socialist Party has been saying for months”. He also applauded the EU’s decision to set aside EUR 1 billion for handling the migrant crisis. He called for setting up hotspots not only in Greece but Hungary and Croatia as well.
The Democratic Coalition said Hungary must stop construction on its fences on the Romanian and Croatian borders and should tear down the one already built. MEP Csaba Molnár said Orbán had “suffered another defeat” at the summit.
The Dialogue for Hungary party said Orbán had played “quite a marginal role” because discussions were centred on European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s proposals from two weeks ago, rather than the prime minister’s six proposals.

Schengen “lost” if border protection fails: Orbán

The protection of Hungary’s southern border is essentially the protection of the borders of Austria, Bavaria and Europe as a whole, and if it fails, “Schengen is lost”, Orbán said in Vienna after his meeting with Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice-Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner. “If Hungary fails to protect its southern borders, Austria and Germany will face a daily influx of 10,000 or up to 250,000 migrants over the coming months,” he said.
Orbán told Faymann that Hungary wants to preserve traditionally good ties with Austria. He said the talks had been constructive and amid an atmosphere of good intention. And in spite of differences of opinion, there had been a desire on everyone’s part to bridge these. “Austrian-Hungarian relations are in a better state than they were at 8 o’clock this morning,” he said.
Before closing the Hungarian-Croatian “green” border, Orbán said he would seek the support of Visegrád group member states, and Hungarian government members would visit Croatia. Asked if the razor-wire along the border would be fortified by a second fence, he said: “We do not have to wait for the construction of the second line to order to ensure closure of the green border.”
Orbán noted that the reason for his visit to Austria was that explaining Hungary’s actions to the world via the media was not sufficient. The looming unlimited supply of migrants has not yet entered the minds of European leaders, he added. Austria had “renounced” its friendship with Hungary “in the hardest of times” but the Hungarian government was willing to overlook this.
Hungary was willing to forgive Austria for “calling us Nazis”, a move which he said was “absurd” coming from an Austrian politician. The prime minister said he suggested to his Austrian partners that the two countries try to help each other, arguing that “from now, legally we are in the same boat” because the migrant situation on the Hungarian-Croatian border is exactly the same as it is on the Austrian-Hungarian one.
Tóbiás said in reaction to the Vienna meetings: “What the government is doing now is damage control. The prime minister’s visit to Austria indicates that there had been no de facto co-ordination between the two countries during the migrant crisis at all.”

A lot of agreements

While in New York, the PM met with Michelle and Barack Obama as well

At the United Nations summit in New York, Orbán met Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. The latter meeting was to discuss the position of the Visegrád Four countries – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary – in handling the migrant crisis. According to cabinet press spokesman Bertalan Havasi, the two were in agreement that it is crucial the four countries maintain their cooperation and unity in managing the crisis.
Orbán thanked his Czech counterpart for his country’s pledges in military co-operation, Havasi said. They had agreed that their countries must further strengthen their co-operation in this area.
Havasi said Orbán and al-Sisi agreed that the ongoing migrant crisis is one of global proportions requiring an equally wide-ranging solution. The two leaders had also been in agreement that it is essential to prevent Europe’s migrant crisis from leading to the spread of anti-Islamic sentiment across the continent. Orbán had told the Egyptian president that the problem in Europe was not Islam but rather mass illegal migration.

Migrant wave won’t ease in winter: analyst

The number of migrants is not expected to drop considerably in winter, the director of Hungary’s Institute for Migration Research has told daily Magyar Hírlap. Citing statistics, Balázs Orbán said the figures did decline in the winters of 2012 and 2013 but clearly increased in winter 2014, reflecting a change in motivations for migration. Conditions in Turkish refugee camps will continue to deteriorate, especially in winter, he said. A few years ago many Syrians had chosen to return to their homeland at that time but now they were more inclined to set off towards Europe. Concerning the six proposals Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had put forward in Brussels, the director-general said the European Union underestimates the importance of defending its borders. “The prime minister focuses on preventing the next wave of migrants rather than on a system of distributing those who are already here,” Balázs Orbán said. Nevertheless, it was not a defeat for Hungary that the European Union approved the quota regime for distributing migrants, he said. This way Hungary had avoided being declared a frontline country, which would have involved the admission of several tens of thousands of migrants over the next years in hot spots, namely EU refugee camps. “With the quota regime, Hungary will have to take in a maximum of 1,000 migrants, which is a manageable crowd.”

Mandatory medicals sought for asylum seekers

Human Resources Minister Zoltan Balog has submitted a bill to Parliament that would amend the health care law by allowing the chief medical officer to order asylum seekers to undergo medical screenings during states of crisis due to mass migration or health crises. If passed into law, the location of the tests would be determined by the immigration office. According to the bill, the screening is to be carried out in the transit zone defined by Hungary’s border law if that is where the migrant seeks asylum. Before entering the country, the migrant would have to present a proof of having passed the medical test. The bill also states that during health crises, the costs of treatments which are not covered by health insurance would be paid for by public funds. Balog said Hungary’s public health situation is currently stable but mass migration has called for measures that make the crisis easier to manage, such as the proposed amendments to the health care law.

More courts to try migrant cases

MPs passed a bill on Tuesday that allows two additional regional courts to try cases of illegal border entry. District courts in Pécs and Zalaegerszeg would have the power to try these cases in addition to the district court in Szeged. These cities are near Hungary’s borders with Serbia and Croatia. The bill was initiated by ruling Fidesz party MP Bence Tuzson, who said his proposal aimed to reduce the burden on the Szeged court.