On February 3, the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, launched a threat to the countries of the Visegrad Group (Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic) on immigrant quotas.
Does Brussels intend to invade the Visegrad countries?
Given the refusal of these four countries to accept a wave of Muslim immigration that is already causing serious social and security problems in the rest of the European Union, Michel told the Belgian newspaper Le Soir: "We have given an ultimatum to the countries of Visegrad who reject solidarity and welcome migrants. In essence: in the absence of a consensus, we will use qualified majorities at the end of the first semester to decide without them." The announcement has caused outrage in the aforementioned countries, since what was raised by the Prime Minister of Belgium would imply a violation of national sovereignty to impose migratory policies that have already proven to be very dangerous. The threat of Michel has been a qualitative leap in the tone of the threats of the Brussels elite against those who resist their policies, and generates a disturbing question: does Brussels intend to use brute force to impose the whims of some of its high officials? Is this still the European Union or has it become a copy of the Warsaw Pact, with which the Soviet Union kept its satellite countries submissive?
The Prime Minister of Hungary faces Michel's threats
Yesterday, Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister and president of the conservative Fidesz party, and who is also the current chairman of the Visegrad Group, replied to Michel's ultimatum through a video subtitled in English published on his Facebook page:
I transcribe his statement here:
"The presidency of Fidesz has discussed yesterday the announcement of the Belgian primer minister, that they will - if necessary with force - obligate Central-European countries, including Hungary, to accept migrants. According to their plan, this will happen in June, at the summit of the prime ministers in Brussels. Our presidency has taken a stand: we cannot give in to extortion. For us, Hungary is first. We will fight those who want to change the Christian identity of Hungary and Europe."
Hungary accuses the Belgian Prime Minister of 'coercion'
According to yesterday's digital newspaper About Hungary, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, has called "coercion" the announcement of the Belgian Prime Minister: "We consider this unacceptable and we reject it," he said. At a joint press conference held in Bratislava with the Slovak Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ivan Korčok, the Hungarian minister was also concerned about the "27 terrorist attacks perpetrated recently by people with a migratory background in Europe and the areas prohibited in certain European cities, even if the Belgian prime minister is not worried about them." In his turn, Korčok said, referring to Brussels, that they will not allow once again to "vote on our heads".
V4 calls for "effective, responsible and enforceable external border protection"
On January 26, in Budapest, the four countries of the Visegrad Group (or V4) signed a "Statement on the Future of Europe" in which they jointly presented their approaches to migration:
"The migration crisis has shaped the realities of Europeans for more than two years, creating still unresolved challenges for national migration and security policies. As a consequence of the crisis the EU has to face major challenges, like the necessity to guarantee the protection of external borders and the differentiation between genuine asylum seekers and illegal and economic migrants. Our experience has shown that only those solutions that have been approved by consensus bring the best results in practice and are able to effectively address the crisis. The major part of these actions was undertaken within external aspects of migration policy, highlighting the need for cooperation with countries of origin and transit. Now comes the time to elaborate a sustainable consensus on a comprehensive approach to migration and asylum policy. Taking into consideration our common experience, any overall solution for the crisis must therefore be constructed with the objective of not to distribute but to prevent the migratory pressure on Europe. That is the reason why we contribute to the border protection in Libya with 35 million Euros. The Visegrad countries will contribute to the ongoing debate on a comprehensive migration policy, based on the principle of an effective, responsible and enforceable external border protection to avoid obligatory quotas to be applied which are ineffective and have already divided Europe."
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(Photo: Associated Press)
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