Hungary will also build fences on some sections of the Croatian border, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview published on the website of the Austrian newspaper Die Presse on Wednesday evening. In addition to Die Presse, the Prime Minister gave a joint interview to the German newspaper Die Welt, the British newspaper The Times and the French newspaper Le Figaro. By late last night the interview had only been released in the online editions of the Austrian and German newspapers.
Regarding the fence to be built on some sections of the Croatian border, the Prime Minister added that he had already spoken to the Interior Minister about this, and “there are plans for this project”. The newspaper raised the issue that this would take time. The Prime Minister said in response that Hungary now has experience. At the same time, Mr Orbán added that the fence will not represent the real force. “We have new laws which foresee stringent punishment for illegal migrants. We have sent the police and the army to the border. This must make it clear that while migrants may submit asylum applications, they must observe the rules”, he stated.
The Prime Minister reiterated that the Geneva Convention relating to the status of Refugees itself stipulates that asylum-seekers cannot choose the country in which they wish seek asylum. Refugees are entitled to protection, but this must be provided by the neighbouring states. Following this, they may request their transfer to another country. Mr Orbán pointed out that in 1956 the Hungarians fleeing from Hungary were gathered in camps in the neighbouring Austria where they were allowed to submit asylum applications in the regulated manner to Sweden, Australia, Germany and other countries. This process often took years. In answer to the question whether he wants to send the refugees back, for instance, to the war-stricken Aleppo in Syria, Mr Orbán said that it is not our job to give advice. Our job is to maintain and observe the European and Hungarian regulations. “The international community cannot aim to receive every refugee, and to give them new homes. It cannot be a legitimate objective that everyone should leave Syria. On a political level, we must make efforts to make Syria a liveable place once again”, he said.
In answer to a question, the Prime Minister said that Hungary has given shelter to some 1,500 families in the last five years, in particular, in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring. ”In 2012 I concluded an agreement with Coptic Christians. We are naturally prepared to receive further refugees. But now is not the time to discuss this”, he said. The Prime Minister argued that we should now discuss how the refugees can be stopped. “If we talk about quotas, it is a kind of invitation. At this point in time, we must put an end to the chaos above all. It is not my job to see the world through the eyes of migrants, but this situation is not good for them either. On the way to Europe 10 to 15 per cent of the people perish”, he stated.
Die Welt highlighted Mr Orbán’s statement made in the interview that the plan of the mandatory quota system for the distribution of migrants is contrary to the fundamental interests of all EU Member States, and “we must protect Hungary”. According to the Prime Minister, however, if this regime is solidified into EU law, Hungary must accept it. We are ready to talk about quotas, but only on a voluntary basis, and only once this migration flood is over”, the Prime Minister said.
In answer to the question as to what will happen if the European Union approves the quota system with a qualified majority, the Prime Minister said according to Die Welt: “It will then become EU law, and we shall have to accept it”. The Hungarian Prime Minister said that he found the idea disappointing that the funds due to the countries refusing the refugee quotas from the Structural Funds should be reduced. “This is not what the Germans have done in recent years. This would represent a return to the brutal language of power, instead of debates with a view to finding solutions. At the same time, the Structural Funds have nothing to do with solidarity. (…) The money coming from the Structural Funds is not a handout. It is very unbecoming to use the Cohesion Funds to blackmail the Eastern-Europeans”, he said.
In the joint interview, Viktor Orbán confirmed that, in his view, refugees pose a threat to the European identity. “We have thoroughly studied what has happened in Western-European countries in the last few years. Despite the most sincere efforts of western governments, they failed to integrate Muslim communities, and we, Hungarians do not want parallel societies because we, Christians would stand to lose on the basis of pure mathematics. If we let the Muslims into Europe, they will soon outnumber us. This is a simple demographic and mathematical issue; the succession of Muslims is unlimited in the Islamic world”, the Prime Minister said. He remarked that he is sensing a kind of weakness in Christian societies. “Muslims are stronger, they have more respect for life, family and children, and they have more respect for cultural unity”, he added.
According to the Prime Minister, Muslim migrants want better living standards in Europe, but they do not wish to change their culture and orientation; “a lot of Europeans fall for an illusion”. In answer to the question as to whether the Prime Minister wishes to preserve Hungary as a pure nation, he said: “this is not a question of purity. From a historical point of view, Hungary is perhaps one of Europe’s most mixed societies. But Hungary is a Christian nation.” He said he likes Angela Merkel’s statement that “multiculturalism is dead” because it describes reality faithfully. “We have the right to not follow others on the wrong track”, he pointed out, adding that we would like to continue on our own, thousand-year-old path.
In reply to the question regarding his relationship with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, the Prime Minister said that their relationship is good, they still regularly talk to each other by telephone, and he last received a call from his Austrian counterpart three days ago.
“We must cooperate, what else could we do? When we spoke in person, he never used the unbecoming words which he said in public. I do not take this personally; this is a political game”, he said. “I do not take this seriously. This is simply poor manners. Civilised Europeans cannot express their views in this manner. There is a simple division of labour on the European left: it is someone’s turn to attack the Hungarian Prime Minister every day. I understand this logic. One day the Romanians call me names, the next day the Swedes, and then the Austrians”, he said in answer to the question: “So you do not take it seriously that Faymann likened the conduct you manifest in the refugee crisis to the darkest chapter of European history?”. In answer to the question whether he expects an apology from Faymann, Mr Orbán said that “this has never been the Austrians’s forte. (…) The Austrians can sometimes be rude.
The statements coming from Austria and Romania are often rather destructive.” In answer to the question whether the Prime Minister feels justified in the wake of the reinstatement of border controls in Germany and Austria, Mr Orbán said: “It is one of the oddest stories of Hungary’s EU membership that, as the only Member State, it took the EU’s common rules seriously, and was criticised for it. This is ridiculous. The question is not whether my position has gained in strength, but whether the European conventions are still in force or not. I am glad that more and more prime ministers follow suit as this is the only way for common life in the EU.”
In his reply to the question as to whether the refugee crisis may provoke an existential crisis, the Hungarian Prime Minister said: “I would not go that far just yet, but it may happen. We can resolve the problems now, but we must get down to it. We must go to Greece, and protect the border there. We have observed the failure of the Greeks to comply with the Dublin Regulations for six years without doing anything. Now we are all paying the price for the fact that Greece is unable to protect its external borders. We must observe the rules more stringently.”
Mr Orbán took the view that the Dublin Regulations which are designed to manage refugee issues “are evidently no longer valid amidst the current circumstances, the reality of today”. The world has changed, and we need new tools. In answer to the question as to what those tools may be, he said that this is a complicated issue, “but it would be useful to involve EU candidate countries such as Serbia and Macedonia in the division of responsibility and burdens. Hungary is now in a rather comfortable position because the flood seems to have stopped transiting through its territory, but the challenge has not disappeared altogether; migrants will continue to come”. In answer to the question of how many of them will come, he said “millions”. “Frontex has reliable calculations and analyses, even if, with great probabillity, no one reads them”, he added.
Mr Orbán believes that “the number of people arriving in Europe may well reach 100 million” if, as the journalist presumed, we are to witness a disintegration of the countries of the Middle-East. “Do not forget Africa! This is a global challenge, Europe must also involve the UN”, he said. To prevent this, Europe must not be a party to the destruction of the societies in those countries. According to the Prime Minister, “we have destroyed Iraq, and the West supported a non-existent opposition in Syria and demonised President Assad”.
In the Prime Minister’s view, the reason why so many people came via the Balkans route is that we created the impression that in the EU we accept an unlimited number of migrants; “we instinctively adopt a liberal approach to a lot of problems”. Mr Orbán believes that there is a leadership problem in Europe. “In the current European culture, leadership is delegated to institutions, rather than to individuals. We create the impression that strong leaders are dangerous, and the weak leader is the good leader. If everything goes well, institutional leadership is fine, but in crisis situations we need leaders who diverge from the customary path. If this is what you do, you are branded in the media as a dangerous nationalist the next day”, he pointed out. In answer to the question whether he was talking about himself, the Prime Minister replied in the negative. „I am not the only victim. Europe has some good leaders, but most of them do not use their leadership skills”, he said.