Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has ruled out the possibility of a European consensus on the European Union’s proposed asylum reforms and accused Brussels of “legally raping” Poland and Hungary by attempting to force through its controversial migration pact via a qualified majority vote.
Speaking from the Spanish city of Granada on Friday, where dozens of EU leaders have convened for the third meeting of the European Political Community, the Hungarian leader insisted his country would remain opposed to any plans by Brussels to obligate member states to receive asylum seekers.
“This is politically impossible,” Orbán told reporters in response to whether a unanimous agreement could be reached on the issue. “They previously agreed that they would unanimously decide on the regulation price for migration, but this was recently changed, and the package was forced through, bypassing Hungary and Poland,” he added.
The governments in Budapest and Warsaw were the only ones to uphold their opposition to the plans, which would see countries obligated to take in an asylum seeker quota or face financial penalties for non-compliance.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Orbán claimed that Brussels had “legally raped” his country by forcing through its plans with a qualified majority of member states, and reiterated his government’s intention to reject the proposals.
“There will be no compromise on migration. Not today, and not in the upcoming years. We will defend our borders from migrants and from the Brussels bureaucrats as well,” he added.
Brussels legally raped Poland and Hungary by forcing through the #MigrationPact . So there will be no compromise on migration. Not today, and not in the upcoming years. We will defend our borders from migrants and from the Brussels bureaucrats as well! pic.twitter.com/YRR5IJfQKR
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) October 6, 2023Poland’s governing conservatives have also voiced their continued opposition to the migration pact with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki writing on Friday that “Europe faces an essential choice — to choose either security or mass, illegal migration.”
The governing Law and Justice (PiS) party is currently engrossed in a hotly contested election set to take place in Poland on Oct. 15, and has scheduled a referendum to be held on Brussels’ asylum reforms for the same day.
The issue of immigration has become a particularly contentious matter during the election, and Morawiecki reminded voters on Friday that the Polish opposition is in agreement with Brussels to adopt the proposed measures.
“The party of (Civic Platform leader) Donald Tusk agreed in the European Parliament to the adoption of the migration pact. We do not agree with forced relocation! We are consistent, predictable, and responsible. We will always protect the security of Poland and Polish families!” he wrote.
Conservatives such as Orbán have been increasing the frequency of their attacks on Brussels in recent days, with the Hungarian leader accusing Brussels on Thursday of prolonging the war in Ukraine and costing thousands of lives by transferring billions in weapons to Ukrainian forces.
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“Brussels is creating an Orwellian world in front of our eyes. They buy and supply weapons through the European Peace Facility. They want to control the media through the Media Freedom Act. We didn’t fight the communists to end up in 1984!” he wrote on X.
