GETTY Viktor Orban rubbished the idea of an EU asylum policy

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In yet another forthright intervention just days after eurocrats began legal proceedings against him, Viktor Orban reaffirmed his commitment to refusing refugees allocated through a euro quota system. He strongly hinted he and other Eastern Eurpoean countries will reject any attempts to create a common European migration policy, such as the setting up of an EU asylum agency to determine applications and distribute refugees.

Budapest has been locked in a bitter war of words with Brussels on the issue of migration, which has stemmed from its refusal to accept migrant quotas mandated by the EU Commission. Three other countries - Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - are also refusing to take in refugees under the scheme saying it is an unacceptable impingement on their sovereignty.

GETTY Jean-Claude Juncker's EU Commisson has launched infringement proceedings against Hungary

Last week Mr Juncker confirmed that eurocrats will take legal action against the first three of those, who between them have not taken in a single migrant since the scheme began in 2015. Migrant quotas were introduced to try and alleviate the pressure on frontline states Greece and Italy but were controversially passed via a majority vote, not unanimity, amid fierce opposition from Eastern Europe. Eastern capitals have been locked in a battle with Brussels to resist the ruling ever since, with Mr Orban in particular attempting to paint himself as a defender of Hungary’s sovereignty.

Let us not create a European migration policy Viktor Orban

During a meeting with leaders of the Benelux countries in Warsaw yesterday, he said: “To say that there will be one integrated, single European migration policy, I do have my doubts and I do not see any chance for this. “Hungary is open to any negotiations to this end but we would like to continue to remain realists.” But he then continued: “Let us not create a European migration policy – and this is the Hungarian position – as a result of which we will no longer be the kind of people we are now. “We would like to preserve what we are today, the kind of people that we are today.” Mr Orban’s unshakeable stance on migration has become a source of growing concern in Brussels, forcing Mr Juncker to deliver an extraordinary speech last week in which he said he regretted Hungary becoming a member state.

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