Arriving at a summit of EU heads of state and government in the Austrian city, the Prime Minister told journalists that the European Commission has made a proposal which states that “if there is a problem, national powers should be taken away from Member States, and the defence of the borders should be managed by the EU”. On Wednesday he handed over a proposal to Austria which he had earlier presented to Bulgaria, according to which, he said, this problem can be solved – not at the expense of Member States, but allowing “the right of defence to be retained by Member States”.
The Prime Minister said that “Frontex is a fine thing, but never once in its life has it defended a single metre of border – while we have defended hundreds of kilometres”. The Prime Minister stated that there is no need for it “to defend the Hungarian border instead of us – quite apart from questions of principle relating to sovereignty”.
Mr. Orbán said this is what Member States should stand for, “we outnumber those who oppose this”, and “At this point in time the odds are on our side”.
Regarding Brexit, the Prime Minister stressed that Hungary is one of the countries which believes that the British should not be punished. “We need a fair Brexit and good cooperation between Britain and the European Union in the future”, he said.
Asked whether he expects the issue of the “Sargentini Report” to be raised at the meeting, he replied that “everyone sees that as a joke”.
