The Prime Minister takes the view that the current wave of migration is a threat to the European lifestyle, which we must defend, and we can only preserve Europe as it is if we do not let everyone in.
Mr Orbán spoke about this to the television channel TV2 in an interview which was broadcast in its entirety late Monday night.
In response to the reinstatement of border controls in Germany and Austria, the Prime Minister said: „We could joke about the fact that the Austrians are now doing something which Hungary was continuously criticised for earlier, but this is not the time.”
In his view, the people forced this rapid change in the positions of their governments in Western-Europe. The land of Europe is a land of democracy; „you cannot go against the will of the people here” for long, and without genuine arguments, he said commenting on recent events.
People in Western- and Central-Europe feel that their very lifestyle is in danger as, wherever in Europe larger Islamic communities emerge, parallel societies come into being, and their succession is unlimited, he said, and added that this projects the image of a Europe „where our lifestyle will be in the minority”. „So in actual fact, we are defending our lifestyle”, he stated.
The Prime Minister stressed that no hotspots, refugee camps, distribution centres or collection points may be established in Hungary; this is out of the question. If a refugee camp is to be set up in the territory of the EU, it must be in Greece, he said.
Mr Orbán said that they will, with some probability, declare a state of crisis due to mass migration at the cabinet meeting to be held on Tuesday. "If you want to bet on it, bet yes", he said in answer to the question concerning the issue.
From among the new Hungarian regulations which will enter into force on Tuesday, the Prime Minister highlighted that the illegal crossing of the border fence will qualify as a crime which will carry a prison sentence or expulsion. At the border signs will indicate the direction of administration points for those who wish to enter Hungary legally. „We are not sealing the border hermetically, but we simply seek to enforce the laws which have always been in force”, he said.
Mr Orbán further explained: if anyone claims to be a refugee, the Hungarian authorities will ask him whether he has already submitted an asylum application in Serbia. If the answer is no, his application will be refused as Serbia is a safe country. In this context, the Prime Minister indicated that he is expecting a high refusal rate as experiences show that migrants arriving in Hungary do not usually submit asylum applications in Serbia.
At the same time, he also pointed out that the majority of the migrants arriving in the country now are not refugees. Regarding those who come from war zones, he said: they have a right to live in a safe place, and to return to their homeland. They can best achieve the latter if they remain in the vicinity; this is why we must support Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, for instance, he explained.
However, „these people who are charging through Hungary” do not even stop in Austria. These people do not come here for their security, they are not fleeing for their lives. Those who believe that the Serbian, Hungarian or Austrian living standards are not good enough „surely do not see security as their top priority, but rather the coveted living standards: they want to lead a German life”, Mr Orbán said.
In his view, „no one can possibly ask us to share that which we have worked for with people who are no longer in trouble, who are no longer in danger”. They have every right to expect help, but this is not the same as „I’ll come here, and try to take something away from the Europeans which they have worked for”, he said, and added: it would be good to hear more often the words „please” and „thank you” from the migrants, rather than phrases such as „I am entitled to this”, „I demand this”.
The Prime Minister further mentioned that tens of thousand of people have found an opportunity in migration to make money. He also remarked that many of the civil-society organisations supported by the Soros Foundation in Hungary „have launched themselves into action” as well.
Regarding the deployment of the Hungarian defence forces directly for border guarding missions, he said: in the absence of the opposition’s support, „we are losing two precious weeks”.
Concerning the departure of Defence Minister Csaba Hende from his post, the Prime Minister commented: it is a bad Hungarian habit that if a Hungarian is told that he has 30 days to complete a job, he will finish it on the 30th day. However, when „we are running for our lives”, you cannot complete something just by the deadline if it can be done before, he said, pointing out that, in this respect, no responsibility lies with Mr Hende because he would have completed the job by the deadline, but the Prime Minister would like to have seen faster progress.
Mr Orbán also said that illegal migration has cost the country some HUF 30 billion so far, and „we may expect further expenses in more or less the same magnitude (...) during the remaining period”. However, the EU has only given Hungary a few million euros, and therefore the two figures „are not even comparable”, he pointed out.
In response to the criticisms related to the border fence, the Prime Minister said: the iron curtain was built in order to take our freedom away, while „the fence we are building now (...), we are building it in the interest of protecting our own lifestyle and freedom”. Regarding the criticisms levelled at his person, he remarked that while no one is happy to be spoken of in derogatory terms, he cannot afford the luxury of being affected by distasteful attacks because if he did, he would not be able to make decisions with a cool head.
He finally confirmed his proposal that pan-European border policing forces should be directed to Greece to protect the borders.