In Valetta, Malta, where the EU-Africa summit is being held, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that the Visegrád countries will send over 300 border patrol and police officers to Greece “so that we can halt the migration wave at the southern borders of Greece”.
The Prime Minister announced that in Malta the V4 had also agreed that they will jointly contribute to replenishing the funds needed to put a halt to the migration wave.
Talking about the V4 meeting, Mr. Orbán said that a V4 summit will be held in Prague in December, at which the President of South Korea will also be present. Furthermore, they will also discuss the issue of Britain’s desired EU reforms.
In relation to the EU-Africa summit, the Prime Minister said that although it is painful to say, it has to be admitted that “in the fight against migration a few Greek ferry captains are more effective than 28 (EU) prime ministers after a number of meetings”. In contrast to what the EU heads of state and government regularly emphasise – namely that the influx of migrants cannot be stopped – it has turned out that as soon as the Greek captains decided not to transport migrants from islands to the mainland, the migration wave stopped immediately. “In other words, in addition to the Hungarian border barrier, we have other evidence which proves that what is missing in the EU is the will to stop the influx”, he explained.
Mr. Orbán said that a risky point in the discussions was when “those gathered started talking about migration in a positive context”, saying that if migration is well-managed, it can bring benefits to both the countries where migrants come from, and to those where they go to.
He pointed out that he does not agree with this stance, and he also voiced his disagreement. In his opinion, the current migration situation in Europe is not a win-win situation, but lose-lose. In other words, it is bad for everyone: countries from which migrants come lose those people who are in the best physical condition and who are able to do the most valuable jobs, “and in return we are burdened with a community which we are unable to integrate”.
This is why in Malta the Prime Minister also tried to draw attention to the fact that today migration primarily presents risks for Europe.
Mr. Orbán said that in Valetta on Thursday afternoon the 28 EU heads of state and government will also meet separately, and at this meeting – which in Mr. Orbán’s view will be a difficult one – they will have to clarify what they want from Turkey.
The Hungarian stance is the following: “we do not want the EU to sit down to negotiate with Turkey, while giving the impression that it is Turkey which will save the EU. One cannot negotiate if the other party thinks that they are their negotiating partner’s last hope”.
Presenting his proposition, Mr. Orbán said that the EU must first establish its lines of defence: “We must protect ourselves without the Turks”. Once these are established, the EU must come to a reasonable agreement with Turkey.
He added that “If the Greeks are unwilling to protect their own southern borders”, it is an absolutely wrongheaded approach to give three billion euros to Turkey instead of Bulgaria or Macedonia to enable them to protect their borders.