European citizens face two threats, the Hungarian Prime Minister said on Thursday afternoon, one from Brussels and the other migrants coming from the south. Viktor Orbán said the “threat” from Brussels was the “mandatory quota system” for distributing migrants among EU member states, which has again surfaced in light of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent visit to Turkey. This is “the biggest threat” in the coming months, Orbán told journalists at a press conference in Miskolc.

According to the Hungarian Premier, the issue is not about a German-Turkish bilateral agreement but about an agreement between the EU and Turkey. The EU-Turkey pact calls for 400,000-500,000 migrants “to be transported directly” from Turkey to the European Union, he said, noting that Hungary protests against the plan. This concept has not been made public yet because several EU member states have insisted that the distribution of migrants cannot be enforced but must be a voluntary move on the part of nation states, he said. Orbán said the other “threat” to prepare for is a major increase of migration pressure from the south. The Hungarian government has taken steps to beef up the fence along its border, he added.

Hungary’s latest plans for strengthening border protection have been confirmed by government office chief János Lázár, who also told media that the country would be exposed to growing migrant pressure this year. Hungary opposes attempts by Brussels “to impose mandatory quotas” on its member states, Lázár told a regular government press briefing on Thursday. Europe’s security will not improve in the coming decade due to the migrant crisis, he said, and Hungary is likely to be exposed to another wave of migrant pressure from spring and is therefore ready to erect a new fence along its border, this time on the border with Romania, he said. The ruling Fidesz board is scheduled to discuss the issue on Friday, Lázár added.

A total of 62,000 migrants arrived in Europe in the first month of the year, more than during the month of June in 2015, György Bakondi, the Prime Minister’s security advisor said. Seventy two people coming mostly from Pakistan, Nepal and the African continent were apprehended at Hungary’s border on Tuesday alone, Bakondi noted. These migrants were stopped by authorities at the Macedonian border on their journey to western Europe which forced them and human smugglers to seek out alternate transit routes. Hungarian border control authorities are prepared to handle an increasing wave of migrants, he said, adding that sufficient staff and equipment including infrared cameras are in place. The fence erected along Hungary’s southern border last year also helps their work, he said.

Meanwhile Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, rejected critical remarks made by the Greek deputy foreign minister in connection with the migrant crisis in a recent press interview. It is ironic that the Greek deputy foreign minister “is trying to teach us about solidarity and the rules,” he said. Nikos Ksidakis, the Greek deputy minister, told Hungarian left-wing daily Népszabadság that Greece “is disappointed by the accusations made against Athens by the Hungarian government in connection with the refugee crisis … The Hungarian government is making accusations rather than helping to handle the refugee crisis,” he said.

In response, Szijjártó said that Europe is defenceless from the south because Greece has failed to stick to the Schengen requirements. Hungary accepts that a country is unable to defend a maritime border of thousands of kilometres from its own resources. For this reason, it proposed some months ago setting up a European defence force which is able to protect the EU’s southern border, he said. “We need soldiers, police officers, ships, helicopters, aircraft rather than bureaucrats and Frontex officials for defending the border,” the minister said, adding that Hungary would contribute staff to common border protection.

via hungarymatters.hu and MTI