Hungary has recently spent more than EUR 500 million on the protection of the Hungarian and European borders, the Government Spokesperson highlighted on the Thursday evening programme of the public service television news channel M1.
Zoltán Kovács reiterated that the Government’s position concerning the management of the illegal immigration situation continues to remain that the external borders must be protected under any circumstances, while the temporary internal border controls must be terminated and the possibility of free movement must be restored.
Additionally, the mandatory distribution of migrants must be rejected, and there may be scope for voluntary quotas at most, he added.
Further, all expenses and elements must be taken into consideration for the purposes of solidarity, including the measures Hungary has adopted with a view to compliance with the regulations, even if not quite on the basis of the Brussels principles, Mr Kovács added.
Regarding the resolution of the situation, the Member States would have a vested interest in finding the most effective solutions within the shortest possible time, he remarked. The Government Spokesperson took the view that there is an increasingly diminishing chance of a major change in the proposal concerning mandatory distribution, and therefore there will be no agreement with great probability.