Orbán: Only Hungary defended Schengen

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MTI szilard koszticsak

Hungary is the only country to defend Schengen, as “we are the only ones who can protect our borders and our rights”, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said this morning in his regular fortnightly interview with state-owned Kossuth radio.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during an interview on Kossuth radio. (Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák)

Interior ministers of the European Union are expected to make a decision on the suspension of the Schengen Treaty, as some members believe that freedom of movement needs to be restricted in the EU, therefore they are “supplying the answer for their own poor decisions on migration”, online daily origo.hu cited the prime minister as saying.

“We cannot give an answer alone”, Orbán reportedly said, and called on other EU members to join the “friendly circle” of the Visegrád Four countries – Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary – in defending EU borders.

Commenting on the agreement the European Union made with Turkey, Orbán said, that although Hungary supports it, “we cannot buy security from the Turks; we need to prove that we can establish security on our own”. He said the agreement was initiated by European powers because they felt weak, and expected Turkey to protect their interests, origo.hu reported.

Orbán said he suspects that upcoming EU meetings will involve a “door-slamming atmosphere”, however, “this is what life is like”, origo.hu reported. There are no perfect decisions according to the prime minister, but despite tensions being high, good decisions can be made in the long-term.

The prime minister believes it is difficult to envision the world in half a year’s time. “For me, prophecy stinks”, Orbán said, adding that solutions could be provided by the people. The intentions of Europeans are diverging from those of European leaders, and it is becoming more difficult to cope with such tension, Orbán reportedly said, therefore leaders need to change since people will not. Rather than of an era of liberalism, an era of democracy needs to be reinstated in Europe, Orbán said.

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