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Migration Hot Topic at EU Summit

Mariann Őry 2023.02.09.

The war in Ukraine, illegal migration, and Europe’s economic situation are on the agenda of the two-day EU summit in Brussels. 

President of the European Council Charles Michel proposed that EU leaders “focus in particular on the external dimension of migration, strengthening our external action, improving returns and readmissions, better controlling our external borders, and fighting trafficking and smuggling,” in his invitation letter ahead of Thursday’s EU summit.

Viktor Orbán Calls for Tougher EU Measures against Migration
Viktor Orbán Calls for Tougher EU Measures against Migration

The prime minister held talks with several European leaders ahead of the EU summit in Brussels.Continue reading

The war in Ukraine, the economic situation of Europe, and illegal migration are on the agenda of the two-day meeting in Brussels. As Hungary Today reported earlier, Austria’s center-right Chancellor Karl Nehammer threatened to block the joint final declaration of the summit if no concrete agreements are reached on migration issues. “Empty words will not suffice,” he told German newspaper Die Welt on Wednesday.

There finally needs to be a clear and unequivocal commitment to strengthen external border protection and to use corresponding financial resources from the EU budget for this,”

Nehammer demanded.

Speaking to fellow EU leaders during a preparatory video call, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán repeatedly called upon Brussels to take part in the funding of border protection, as the fences are protecting the whole of Europe.

Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Brussels, Orbán stressed in a tweet that according to Hungary, a ceasefire must be reached as soon as possible.

It quickly went viral on social media that when Zelensky and Michel arrived to join the family photo, almost all EU leaders started clapping, except for Orbán (according to this video, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis did not clap either).

Featured photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán


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