Hungary’s Policy Could Cost her Membership in the EU
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn believes that the policy of the Hungarian government could cost Budapest membership in the European Union. He stated this in a telephone interview with the Hungarian edition of Magyar Nemzet, a major Hungarian newspaper.
Earlier, in an interview with the German edition of Der Tagesspiegel, Asselborn criticized the Hungarian legislative initiative ‘Stop Soros’ and urged the European Commission to initiate a sanction procedure against Hungary.
“I do not hate Hungary. Peter Siyarto [note: a Hungarian politician who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since September 2014] or Victor Orban [a Hungarian politician and jurist, current Prime Minister of Hungary, in office since 2010]. We’re not talking about individuals, but about basic principles, values, laws and respect for human dignity in every EU member state,” Asselborn said. “We can’t punish non-governmental organizations that help asylum seekers. Such methods are used only by authoritarian regimes, unworthy of a democratic European Union,” the Luxembourg Minister added.
Asselborn noted that he had a perfectly normal relationship with his Hungarian colleague Siyarto. “I have no anger that could affect our relations; as I said, it's about principles and values: Hungarian politics defies the principles of the European Union.”
The Luxembourg Minister noted that he could not understand the thinking of the Hungarian government and warned that his policy could cost Budapest dearly.
“The Hungarian people should understand that if they have a government which does this, it might cost them membership in the EU. I would be very sad if that happened,” Asselborn said.
During his state-of-the-union speech at the weekend, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban doubled-down on his objection to Muslim refugees entering the EU and reiterated his claim to be the protector of European culture and Christianity.
His speech referred to “dark clouds” over Europe as he warned that the continued flow of Muslim refugees would result in an “occupied Europe” that would lead to the eventual collapse of the West.
In response to Orban’s incendiary speech, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn compared the fire-brand Hungarian PM to a dictator.
Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Siyarto, called his Luxembourg colleague Jean Asselborn an "idiot" with insane ideas.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently said his government would oppose the efforts of the EU and the UN to expand migration around the world, as "Islam will soon knock on the doors of Central Europe."
The European Commission is preparing a decision on a lawsuit against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic in the European Court for failure to comply with the decision of 2015 on the resettlement of refugees from Greece and Italy on the EU quota.
Dimitri Dolaberidze