One Million Refugees Could Arrive in Europe This Year

The European Union’s task should be to organize the Member States’ resources to protect their external borders, but it is not doing so, and Hungary is paying daily coercive fines for protecting its external borders, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior pointed out in Brussels on Wednesday.

At a press conference following the meeting of EU interior ministers, Bence Rétvári said that 981,000 asylum applications have been filed in the European Union in 2024, the second highest number since 2016, when around one million applications were registered. The European Commission forecasts that this number could rise further to 1.1 million in 2025. The increasing trend is a cause for concern and confirms the assumption that up to one million refugees could arrive in Europe every year, he stressed.

Rétvári recalled that

in addition to the continuing terrorist threat and the increasing frequency of attacks, the functioning of the Schengen area had deteriorated significantly.

Although it is supposed to be based on the principle of free movement, more and more countries – such as Germany, France, Sweden, and Italy – have introduced border controls. As a result, one of the fundamental objectives of the European Union – the portability of internal borders – is being undermined, he pointed out.

He added that Brussels’ inaction is leading many Member States to take action on external border protection themselves. In recent years, Austrian, Czech, and Slovak border guards have been helping on Hungary’s southern border. Since January 2024, a joint operation on the Turkish-Bulgarian border was launched, involving Bulgarian, Romanian, Austrian, and Hungarian forces. Similar cooperation has been established between Croatian, Slovenian, and Italian authorities on the border with Bosnia to stop illegal migration.

These actions, the multilateral agreements between Member States, prove that the EU does not represent the will of the Member States and the people on migration, but wants to impose a migration pact to implement the will of a very narrow bubble in Brussels along liberal lines,”

he stressed.

The State Secretary said that the meeting had discussed the abusive trend whereby asylum seekers, after having their applications rejected in one country, try again in another and even in a third. In doing so, they take advantage of the EU’s legal loopholes and can stay in the EU for years or even decades without permission. “The EU has failed to prevent this practice over the past ten years, which undermines the credibility of the asylum system,” emphasized Rétvári.

“We find it unacceptable that Hungary has to pay a coercive fine of EUR 1 million every day for protecting its external border. We should not be paying Brussels, but they should be paying us, for we are already spending the equivalent of more than HUF 800 billion (EUR 2 billion) to protect the EU’s external border,” he argued. The politician also said that the EU’s return system is not working properly, as countries of origin do not take requests for readmission seriously. In 2024, the number of requests was 55,000, while the number of responses was 18,000.

He also emphasized that Frontex’s (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) activities have changed significantly in recent years: while its main task used to be the enforcement of removal decisions by the authorities, three quarters of its activities are now focused on “encouraging” voluntary departure. He pointed out that this trend weakens the EU’s border protection, as migrants arriving illegally cannot be sent back by “persuasion.”

Rétvári also reported on a meeting with Latin American interior ministers on drug trafficking. He recalled that Hungary had launched a manhunt against drug traffickers and that a significant part of the illegal drugs came from abroad. He stressed that

international cooperation is key to dismantling trafficking networks, especially with EU and South American partners.

Cooperation should include monitoring financial flows and mapping drug smuggling routes to prevent large quantities of drugs from entering Europe, including Hungary.

He also stressed that countries with large ports are a priority in the fight against drug trafficking, as they are the main routes through which drugs enter Europe. At the meeting, the countries concerned were asked to step up controls at their ports to prevent the influx of large quantities of drugs. In Hungary, a central investigation team and a task force are constantly pursuing drug traffickers and amendments to the law are also being planned to make the fight more effective, he stated.

Via MTI, Featured photo via Twitter/Sea-Watch International