Government weekly press briefing about deported migrants, BREXIT and Portik-case

Budapest, June 23 (MTI) – Hungary wants to make clear to the European Commission and other EU member states that it is legally impossible for it to take back migrants who entered the EU through Greece and passed through Hungary before moving on to other countries in the bloc, the government office chief said on Thursday. British voters have the right to express their views on their country’s European Union membership, but Hungary wants to make clear that it is “honoured” to be Britain’s partner in the bloc, he told.

János Lázár told a regular press briefing that EU member states have expressed their intention to send back about 45,000 migrants to Hungary. Hungary has so far registered a total of 179,000 migrants, he said.

More than 21,000 people have submitted asylum requests in Hungary so far this year, Lázár said, adding that those asylum seekers have all been asked to confirm where they had entered the EU.

Now that the Balkan route has been closed, Hungary will have to prove that it was Greece that broke the EU’s asylum laws by failing to register its illegal entrants, Lázár said, insisting that Hungary cannot be penalised for Greece’s wrongdoing.

He noted that the European Council will meet next week to discuss the current migration situation.

Regarding cooperation between Hungary and Austria on migration, Lázár said that a law recently passed by Austria caps the number of asylum seekers that Austria can take in this year at 37,500. This means the country can send back migrants who exceed that limit to Hungary. Lazar said Interior Minister Sándor Pintér has therefore initiated setting up a bilateral working group aimed at ensuring that cross-border traffic can run undisturbed between the two countries over the summer.

On another subject, Lázár said the government will discuss at Friday’s cabinet meeting the Constitutional Court’s ruling from this week which green-lighted a referendum on the EU’s mandatory migrant quota scheme.

The government’s aim now is to give as many people as possible a chance to express their opinion on the quota plan, Lázár said. The referendum is about who gets to determine who can live or work in Hungary, he said.

Hungary ‘honoured’ to be UK’s partner in EU

Lázár said the government will discuss and assess the UK’s referendum on EU membership in great detail at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Given that it appears the vote is on a knfe edge, the minority view cannot be disregarded. No matter what the Brits decide, the vote will influence the future of the EU, he added.

Asked if Hungary would also move to leave the EU if in the case of Brexit, he said the issue was unlikely to come up in Hungary. Asked whether he would vote to remain or leave, he said it was a “tough question”.

Friday’s cabinet meeting will also focus on major investments.

New buses for Budapest

On the topic of new buses for Budapest, Lázár said István Tarlós, the mayor, would not be at a cabinet meeting on Friday, and the government would not meet again until July 5.

“Tomorrow, Mayor István Tarlós will not participate at the cabinet meeting. We cannot discuss in earnest questions of public transport in Budapest,” Lázár said.

The local council decided earlier that it would buy Polish-made Solaris buses if the government fails to take a decision on the matter by the deadline.