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Jan 16, 2024 10:28 p.m. | surveillance
Slovakia and Hungary reject the EU’s migration pact and the abolition of veto rights of EU member states, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico after today’s meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán in Budapest. Speaking to journalists at a joint press conference, Orbán added that sovereignty is important for both countries, Topky.sk reports.
Photo:
CT24
Description: Viktor Orbán is Robert Fico
“We reject the form of the migration pact that someone orders that we either accept migrants or pay a fine,” Fico said. He added that countries should be able to decide for themselves how to provide refugee aid. In December, after years of negotiations, EU states and MEPs agreed on rules to streamline the processing of asylum applications and the return of rejected applicants, as well as strengthening the responsibility of all countries for managing migration in the bloc.
Fico also stated that he would pressure Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala to call a meeting of Visegrád Group (V4) prime ministers as soon as possible, Topky.sk reported.
The governments in Bratislava and Budapest have the same views on many issues, including Ukraine and the rejection of the EU migration pact, the Slovakian head of cabinet continued.
“Sovereignty is important for both countries. “On the Hungarian side, we are not satisfied with initiatives from Brussels to create a superstate, and we are not at all satisfied with initiatives that seek to legitimize illegal migration,” Orbán said. He thanked Slovakia for having sent its police officers to the south of Hungary for a long time to protect its external borders of the Schengen area of free movement of people.
It was a pleasure to receive Prime Minister Robert Fico in Budapest today. We discussed bilateral relations and of course the hottest item on the EU agenda: #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/oLXj8zLtqD
— Viktor Orbán (@PM_ViktorOrban) January 16, 2024
Fico will put pressure on Fiala to convene a meeting of the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland) as soon as possible. “I think it’s a great tragedy that the V4 was intentionally disabled,” Fico said. According to him, Bratislava and Budapest reject the abolition of member states’ right to veto on decisions in EU institutions that require unanimity.
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Ukraine (war in Ukraine)
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Author: Natalia Brozovska
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