Orban says Hungary will not comply with EU decision on migrants

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Budapest is not going to fulfil the terms of the new EU migration agreement with mandatory quotas for migrants.

The 444.hu media reports that Orban made the statement at a summit with the participation of Hungary, Austria and Serbia. 

Orban: Hungary will “find legal and political ways” not to comply with the EU decision

Orban said that Hungary would “find legal and political ways” not to comply with the EU decision.

The prime minister said that he believes the Hungarian approach is the best – that migrants cannot enter the country until their application is processed and that all European countries should do so. 

Viktor Orban said that Hungary is in a unique situation in the EU because it has a warring country on its eastern border and “the busiest migration route” from the south. 

Hungary and Poland oppose the new EU migration agreement

Hungary and Poland are the most vocal opponents of the new EU migration agreement, which was approved by a qualified majority in the EU Council.  

The Polish authorities will hold a referendum on this issue simultaneously with the parliamentary elections. They are preparing relevant amendments to the legislation. 

EU migration agreement details

According to the proposal of Sweden, which currently holds the presidency of the EU Council, countries will have three options: they will be able to accept migrants, pay for those who are not accepted, or choose the so-called “operational assistance.”

This position will now be discussed with the European Parliament. The goal is for the migration package to come into force at the beginning of the year.

Refusal to accept migrants will have a cost for an EU country

It is estimated that about 30,000 migrants may arrive in the European Union every year. For example, Poland will account for about 2,000 of them.

The “cost” of one unaccepted migrant was agreed at 20,000 euros. So it is easy to calculate that Poland’s refusal to accept migrants could cost up to 40 million euros.

The President of the European Commission says that Warsaw and Budapest will not be able to block the adoption of a new decision on migration issues under EU treaties.

Hungary frequently is not happy with Brussels policy and previously had blocked decisions in different areas, including military aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.