The will of the people regarding the management of illegal immigration must prevail throughout Europe, Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said at his press conference on Thursday.
The government spokesperson informed the press that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will attend the EU’s summit of heads of state and government on Thursday and Friday where the agenda will feature a long list of issues that have remained unsolved for some time now. They will discuss important issues such as the next multiannual EU budget, Brexit, relations with Russia and the unfolding trade war with the United States, but the most important question will be illegal migration, he said.
He took the view that in the past few weeks the challenges which the management of illegal migration are posing to Europe have emerged in a number of different forms, from the issue of boats transporting migrants, through the latest Italian measures, to the mini-summit.
Mr Kovács highlighted that with the measures it has implemented recently, Hungary has prepared itself for continuing to represent firmly and clearly the position which the government and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have represented perhaps most consistently in the past three years.
He stressed that, according to this position, illegal immigration must be stopped, rather than organised, and the European borders must be protected which is not a question of ability, but a question of will. Additionally, those who arrived in Europe illegally must be taken back to their countries, he added.
Mr Kovács pointed out that a European solution can only reached if it rests on the will on the European people, and the opinion of the European people testifies to the desire – in harmony with the opinion of the Hungarian people – that migration must be stopped and the borders must be protected.
He believes that any other solution that is based on quotas, distribution mechanisms or plans curtailing the sovereignty and options of the Member States is simply inconceivable. Hungary has set an example, and has demonstrated that it is possible to prepare for the challenges, that it is possible to take firm counter-measures, he said.
In answer to a question concerning the hiring freeze in public administration, the government spokesperson said that in the past few years they had it made clear what principles and goals they wished to follow in public administration. The reduction of bureaucracy is one of these goals which means the maintenance of the current level; in other words, new staff members can only be hired in public administration if others leave, he pointed out.
Regarding a question related to the CEU, he said that it is not the university itself or the New York education authority that decides whether the institution meets the relevant conditions, but Hungarian experts. At present nothing jeopardises the operation of the CEU, it is free to operate within the given boundaries, he said.