Government official: Will Hungary become an immigrant country?

The Bulgarian EU Presidency’s proposal that every EU Member State should take part in the mandatory resettlement programme is unacceptable, Csaba Dömötör, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister said.

He stressed that, based on the proposal of the Bulgarian EU Presidency, in excess of a certain number, the distribution of immigrants would set in automatically, without a specific decision. As he added, this would take away the right of Member States to decide whom they wish to let in and whom not. “We are telling everyone who wants to push this plan through that this is out of the question”, he pointed out. He further highlighted that the resettlement plan currently on the table also designates what is at stake in the April elections. What is at stake is whether Hungary will become an immigrant country, he said. “Only the government and the governing parties are able to prevent the resettlement scheme”, the Parliamentary State Secretary underlined.

Mr Dömötör argued that pursuant to the Bulgarian proposal as many as 10,000 immigrants could be relocated to Hungary in the first round, and failure to observe this obligation would be sanctioned with a penalty of HUF 9 million per immigrant.

He stressed this proposal is effectively identical to the plan which George Soros has published in multiple instalments.

He said that if resettlement is not made a mandatory element of the relevant EU regime, it will collapse, he pointed out, adding that similar to the current proposal George Soros, too, intended to spend HUF 9 million on each and every immigrant.

To make matters worse, the Parliamentary State Secretary argued, according to the Belgian Prime Minister they want to make a decision on the whole resettlement programme by avoiding the Visegrád countries: instead of a unanimous decision, with a simple majority one. “So much about the importance of democratic values for those who otherwise cite them every other day”, he stated.

According to Mr Dömötör, the government’s position has not changed: the resettlement of immigrants is out of the question, and the borders must be protected with all means possible. The cabinet will argue for this fundamental principle in the debate on the UN’s migration pack as well, he underlined, and said it is concerning that they would make migration and immigration effectively a fundamental right.