He continued by saying that “As there will never be agreement on the distribution of migrants, negotiations at summits should involve issues on which Member States can agree”.
One such issue, the Prime Minister said, would be the adoption of a statement on the protection of joint EU borders that concentrates on the external dimensions of migration – namely how the EU can stop people it does not want to see here coming to Europe in the first place.
[1]“It is expected that an agreement will be reached on this issue, as most EU Member States agree that refugee camps should be established near Libya’s northern and southern borders”, he added. He continued: “It is in such camps that refugees should be separated from economic migrants, and it is there that legal procedures and counter-terrorist vetting should be performed; following this, admission to the territory of the European Union should only be allowed to those whose identity we have confirmed and who do not represent a danger to Europe’s security.”
In relation to an interview with French president Emmanuel Macron, which was published on Thursday in several European newspapers, Mr. Orbán said that Mr. Macron’s “introduction was not particularly reassuring, because he obviously felt that the best form of friendship was to immediately take a kick at the countries of Central Europe”. The Prime Minister added that “This is not how we do things around here, but he too will learn the ropes eventually”.
[2]President Macron’s interview, which was published on Thursday in eight European dailies – Le Figaro, El País, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Corriere della Sera, Le Soir, Le Temps, The Guardian and Gazeta Wyborcza – including the following: “When I hear certain Eastern European politicians today, I see that they are betraying Europe. They are deciding to abandon principles and are turning their backs on Europe. This is a cynical approach to the European Union, which sees it as existing only to distribute money, and which does not respect its values.”