European strategy should aim to slow down or stop migration, says official

Brussels – Hungary wants participants at the upcoming European Union summit to approve a document stating that the bloc’s measures should be aimed at slowing down or stemming migration, Szabolcs Takács, state secretary of the Hungarian prime minister’s office, said in Brussels on Tuesday.

Takács spoke after a meeting of ministers of EU affairs, ahead of a summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

The declaration adopted by the Visegrad Group in Prague on Monday serves the economically and socially important goal of preserving the Schengen agreement, taking into account the particular point of view of central Europe, he said. Frans Timmermans, deputy president of the European Commission, praised the V4 declaration on migration in this regard, saying it seeks to contribute meaningfully to the common European search for a solution, Takács said.

Concerning efforts by the four Visegrad countries to contribute to a European solution to the migration problem, Takács said the V4 considered it crucial that a sustainable solution should emerge for protecting the EU’s external borders. Reinforcing the Greece-Macedonia border is of key importance and should not be seen as action against Greece but as promoting Europe’s common interests, he said. Greece should also be given all possible help to enforce Schengen rules, Takacs said.

The goal is that the EU should be protected along Greece’s southern borders, “but if that does not work, Europe cannot be left unprotected against migration,” the state secretary said.

Hungary’s proposal that asylum seekers should not be allowed to leave hotspots before the authorities pass a decision in their case received strong support, Takács said.

On another subject, he said that Hungary welcomes a British proposal aimed at broadening national competencies. Strengthening national parliaments would enable Europe to better respond to both external and internal challenges, Takács argued.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters