“If we continue receiving no funding from Brussels for border protection, we will offer transport to all migrants to the border of Brussels free of charge. If Brussels wants migrants, they will get them,” said Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, at a government briefing on Thursday.
It was the European Court of Justice’s severe ruling against Hungary that made the Budapest cabinet raise the possibility of one-way ticket distributions. The ruling says Hungary must pay a fine for failing to comply with the asylum rules of the EU. The original €200 million fine increases each day by €1 million until Hungary manages to “adjust” its sovereign governance to align with “European principles.” (The fine could already be around €100 billion – editor’s note.)
Does the Socialist mayor of Brussels not want illegal immigrants?
Gulyás’ words have been picked up by the international press and reached the Socialist mayor of Brussels. Philippe Close shared his thoughts on this matter on X and in a letter to the Hungarian government, obtained by Mandiner (picture below).
In his letter, the mayor effectively said that although Hungary is a beneficiary of EU solidarity (presumably Close was also referring to EU funds, a significant part of which is still frozen for political reasons), in his view the Hungarian cabinet is “ignoring the interests of others”, especially if it makes one-way ticket distribution a reality:
“It is irresponsible to gamble with the lives of people in trouble at the expense of the people of Brussels”- argued Close, then called on the Hungarian government to either do its fair share of EU solidarity (referring here to its immigration and asylum policy) or to step down from the EU presidency.
Here is the letter, in English:
Double standards: Hungary should be in solidarity, the Belgian capital is not
It is clear from the above letter that the socialist mayor of Brussels will only go as far as solidarity, the representation and implementation of EU principles, as long as it does not run counter to the interests of the people of Brussels (and thus of himself).
“Sending illegal immigrants there would be to the detriment of the people of Brussels,” he said. But he expects Hungary to show solidarity with refugees.
It should be added that this kind of double standard is nothing new from a left-wing politician. He has also managed to interpret freedom of speech and opinion in a one-sided way, and this was revealed when an event was forced out of the popular Concert Noble hotel, the primary venue for the National Conference on Conservatism (NatCon), under pressure from Philippe Close. But why? Because the event was allegedly set up with “provocative and discriminatory” intentions, and the focus on defending “national sovereignty” implies a “Eurosceptic” attitude that “will undoubtedly lead to violent reactions and even significant disruption of public order, especially security, public tranquillity and peace”.
This piece was originally published by Mandiner. It has been translated and appears here with permission.
