Hungary’s govt rejects EU ‘threat’ to fine anti-quota countries

Horgos, 2016. július 11. Migránsok a szerb-magyar határ közelében, Horgosnál 2016. július 11-én. A határ szerbiai oldalán az Európia Unió nyugati államaiba igyekvõ több száz migráns táborozik arra várva, hogy valahogyan bejusson Magyarországra. MTI Fotó: Molnár Edvárd

Budapest (MTI) – The Hungarian government firmly rejects European plans to impose a fine on countries against a “forced settlement” of migrants, the government information centre said on Monday.

In a statement, they insisted that “unlike several other countries, Hungary has enforced EU rules from the beginning, it has protected Europe’s Schengen borders, it has stopped and registered entrants, separating economic migrants and refugees from war zones”.

The number of asylum-seekers in Hungary exceeded 177,000 last year, and 23,000 in 2016, the statement added. The Hungarian state spends a monthly 140,000 forints (EUR 450) on services for one asylum-seeker, “nearly twice as much as the net minimum wage,” authors of the statement said.

On the other hand, the EU would fine Hungary 78 million forints for each rejected migrant, “the equivalent of a sum a Hungarian employee makes in 40 years”, the document said. At the same time, the bloc “spends one million forints on a Hungarian national”, it added.

In its statement, the information centre also warned that the European plans are aimed at a “permanent distribution mechanism”, while the number of new entrants to Europe cannot be predicted.

Photo: MTI (in Serbia)

Source: MTI

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