Hungarians should be the ones to decide who is granted the right to reside in Hungary

“Any form of mandatory resettlement of migrants between EU Member States is unacceptable,” said Fidesz MEP Kinga Gál during the plenary debate on mandatory resettlement. “As long as we let hundreds of thousands [of migrants] enter Europe without any vetting and we do not differentiate economic migrants from real refugees, no mandatory migrant quota is capable of resolving the problem,” the EPP politician said.

“It is my country’s and my personal opinion that instead of distributing the migrants — who have arrived in Europe without any screening — among the EU Member States, we should focus on managing the root causes of migration and strengthening our border protection,” the MEP said in her speech.

The compulsory relocation of asylum seekers, in particular, is not the only way to show solidarity. Solidarity can also be demonstrated through border protection, police cooperation, and humanitarian programs. Hungary has already spent 284 billion HUF on border protection, and, in addition, the government is gradually extending its humanitarian presence in the Middle East.

“From the very beginning Hungary has maintained its stance that relocation should not be carried out on a mandatory basis but voluntarily. This is why Hungary has contested mandatory relocation before the European Court of Justice and hopes for a favorable decision by the end of the year,” the EPP vice-president said. Despite the fact that 23 member states have voted for the compulsory quota and have taken on the responsibilities that come with it, over the past one and a half years only 18,000 migrants were relocated out of the 160,000. This clearly proves that mandatory quotas are not viable. “The migrant settlement program currently under debate is unacceptable without an upper limit because it serves as an invitation for migrants and encourages human traffickers. A future mechanism based on these policies is counterproductive and completely incapable of resolving the problem.”