Before the European Parliament plenary debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told journalists that the concept of regulating immigration from Brussels has not worked, therefore it is for Hungarians to say whether their country should accept immigrants.
The Prime Minister stated that „We place even less hope in the possibility of solving this issue through centrally distributed quotas”, independent of whether a Member State wants to have immigrants, or whether it defends its borders. According to Mr. Orbán, the right to decide on receiving immigrants should be returned to the sphere of national competency.
He explained that there are certain former colonial powers in Europe which are used to receiving large numbers of immigrants from their former colonies. Hungary is not one of those countries: „we regard it to be an asset that Hungary has a rather homogeneous profile in terms of culture, way of thinking and civilisational traditions”.
According to the Prime Minister, it is impossible to find a common EU standpoint on this question, therefore the right to decide should be given back to Member States.
Two-thirds of Europeans support the free movement of labour within the EU, but similarly, two-thirds are against immigration from countries outside the EU, Mr. Orbán said.
According to the Prime Minister, it is not for him to change his mind; he would like to see political decision-makers take into consideration the opinion of the majority, and change European immigration policy accordingly. He was of the opinion that only the first step can be taken in this direction at the European Parliament debate in Strasbourg, but the process will be a long one.
Concerning the issue of the death penalty, the Prime Minister emphasised that Hungary has not signed any document that would prevent it from bringing up whatever issue it wishes to. The question of whether this is an issue that can be addressed „is not one of penal policy, but of freedom of speech and opinion”.
He went on to say that current international agreements that are binding on Hungary are „not divine revelation, but the creations of human beings”, which can be changed. He added that he would like to see a change in European public law that would return the question of the death penalty to the sphere of national competency.
The Prime Minister said that in the European Parliament debate he would also seek to make the point that Hungary „is the country which has most often been subjected to the x-ray machine of the rule of law”.
„The results of these examinations are good, and so far we have passed every test”, he added.