Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the European Union of committing “violence” against migrants by imposing a plan of their relocation throughout the bloc. His comments come despite the fact that his cabinet had been committing obvious violence against migrants before the country closed its door by building a border wall along its southern border.
After Brussels refused to cover half of the cost of Hungary’s border protection, Mr. Orban launched a new attack on the bloc’s plan to share thousands of migrants around the bloc, saying that the EU’s insistence on the relocation plan is forcing his country to take part in the scheme bordered on “violence”. Mr. Orban’s comments are poised to meet with criticism mainly from Germany, who welcomed refugees and asylum seekers in 2015, which was in stark contrast to the reaction in Hungary that shocked the world by images of violence against migrants. The fresh attack on the relocation plan comes after the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court, rejected a legal challenge to the relocation scheme made by Budapest and Bratislava.
Earlier last week, President of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, criticized Hungary especially for its outspoken request for extra funding on its border wall while refusing to take part in the compulsory migrant redistribution scheme. “Solidarity is not an à-la-carte dish,” Mr. Juncker had said. Mr. Orban, who had previously called immigration the “Trojan Horse of terrorism”, said that he was “stunned and puzzled” by Mr. Juncker’s response. “The interpretation of the principle of solidarity described in your letter is in essence the transformation of Hungary into an immigrant country, against the will of the Hungarian people,” he added.
