Government asks for parlt support against migrant quotas

Budapest, October 6 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orban has instructed the justice minister to prepare proposals for Parliament to thwart the mandatory migrant quotas, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

Representatives of Hungary’s five parliamentary parties met the prime minister on Tuesday to discuss the country’s approach to the European Union’s decision to introduce mandatory migrant quotas. Speaking after the meeting, Szijjarto said that most lawmakers “support the notion that Hungary’s national sovereignty must be protected”.

Szijjarto said the justice ministry’s proposals would be submitted to parliament and argued that the government needs the approval of the legislative body to put up a fight against migrant quotas.

He said the justice minister would consult his Slovak and Czech counterparts on the matter in the near future.

The decision to distribute migrants across the continent is not in the interests of Hungary or Europe, Szijjarto said.

He noted that while the European Council concluded twice that migrant quotas should only be implemented on a voluntary basis, the European Commission pushed for mandatory quotas, a proposal which the council of interior and justice ministers later approved.

The minister said the decision on mandatory quotas has created a “non-existent legal term”, meaning that the EC “has practically amended the Dublin Agreement in a way it should not have been allowed to”. Such decisions should not be made without the involvement of national parliaments as it raises the question of violating the national sovereignty of member states, Szijjarto said.

Socialist leader Jozsef Tobias said the quota system was necessary, but it would not solve the problem.

The question is whether Hungary will take in a few thousand people under the quota regime, or, if current international agreements remain in effect, accept up to 176,000 migrants returned to the country from other EU states, he told a press conference.