Hungary is being attacked in vain; the Government stands by the protection of the borders and says no to resettlement. If they attack us three times, we shall tell them nine times that also in this department, we do not accept the withdrawal of powers from the Member States, Csaba Dömötör said, who described Hungary’s immigration policy departing from the mainstream as the main cause of the Brussels and international attacks levelled against Hungary in recent weeks.
It is evident that this is why Hungary is being attacked ever more intensively, the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister said, stressing that the Government’s position on this issue is clear: they stand by the protection of the borders and say no to resettlement.
In this department, too, we do not accept the withdrawal of powers from the Member States, the Minister of State added who mentioned as one of the manifestations of the attacks that Hungary is being threatened with the reduction of EU funds unless it toes the Brussels line on immigration.
EU funds are not some sort of charitable grants or donations stemming out of sheer generosity, but compensation for Hungary having opened its markets during a period when Hungarian businesses were at a great competitive disadvantage compared with their western counterparts, Mr Dömötör said.
The Minister of State indicated in answer to a question: based on the Polish example, the Hungarian Government, too, will prepare a statement about the utilisation of EU funds in Hungary and the extent to which these funds flowed back to the common budget and the net contributor states.
The politician found the attacks of the liberal and socialist Members of the European Parliament against Hungary objectionable, expressing his regret that “Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition has also joined their ranks”.
As a more recent genre of the international attacks, he mentioned the “simple smear campaigns”, as part of which „international organisations attack the reinforcement of the legal border closure by spreading unfounded, libellous rumours about Hungary”, while their activists regularly provoke members of the police and defence forces serving at the border, whom the Government stands by.
Mr Dömötör stressed: the Government sincerely hopes that, during the course of the national consultation initiated by it, “the Hungarian people will confirm the Government’s position, the essence of which lies in the imperative need to protect Hungary’s sovereignty”.
We would like a strong Europe, a Europe which continues to rely on the diversity of the Member States, a Europe which is able to protect its culture and communities, and this is why we protest against all proposals and decisions which jeopardise this, he said.