National sovereignty at stake with EU migrant quota system, says interior minister

Budapest, January 5 (MTI) – Hungary’s national sovereignty and identity is at stake when it comes to the EU’s mandatory migrant distribution quota system, the interior minister said on Tuesday.

“We face the charge that we have not shown solidarity. But our solidarity is exemplary: we have dispatched police units to help efforts in Slovenia, Macedonia and Serbia and voiced solidarity with countries wanting to protect their borders,” Sandor Pinter said in Esztergom, in northern Hungary, addressing a commemoration.

Hungary has implemented measures to protect the country and the rest of Europe by fully abiding by EU laws, Pinter said, adding that the majority of Hungarians asked in a national consultation stated support for the government’s migration policy.

Pinter was addressing a commemoration held in the city for St. Thomas Becket, the martyred Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ties between Esztergom and Canterbury go back to the 12th century, when Thomas Becket and Hungary’s Lukacs Banfi, who would become the Archbishop of Esztergom, formed a friendship during their studies in Paris.