Hungary is ready to open a corridor for migrants to “march up to Austria, Germany and Sweden” but refuses to allow Brussels to force its opinion on Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sa a regular interview with the public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday.

Commenting on migration, Orbán said that in the last six years since 2015, border fences have been built not only by Hungary but also by Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. This shows that Hungary’s position that it took “solo” in 2015 is slowly becoming a majority perception in Europe, he said.

A total of 92,000 illegal border crossings were prevented during the first nine months of this year, which shows that migratory pressure increased three to four times in one year, Orbán said.

Hungary has spent almost 600 billion forints on border protection so far, which is about the same amount that the government will give to parents in the form of tax rebates next year, he said. As a result, it is a reasonable demand from Hungary that the EU should repay at least part of this money, he added.

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Orbán warned that migration caused the pandemic to spread faster, with illegal migrants transmitting infections.

Hungary is ready to open a corridor for migrants to “march up to Austria, Germany and Sweden” but refuses to allow Brussels to force its opinion on Hungary, Orbán said.

It is up to the Hungarian people to decide who will be allowed to enter the country and who they want to live with, he added. “This debate will stay with us for several years because we live in a time of epidemics and migration,” Orbán said.

Selected photo illustration by Vivien Cher Benko / PM’s press agency