There is another looming dispute over the issue of migration policy: at the EU summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán once again made his negative attitude towards a form of asylum very clear. He also doesn’t want to support more aid to Ukraine.
At the informal EU summit in Granada, Spain, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban once again announced resistance to a reform of EU migration policy. On the sidelines of the meeting of 27 heads of state and government, he drastically criticized the plans for such reform.
There is no agreement on the issue of migration, Orbán said. “Politically this is impossible, not today, but generally speaking, in the coming years.” Orban added that Poland and Hungary were “legally raped”: “So if you are legally raped, forced to do something you don’t like, how are you going to reach a compromise or an agreement? That’s impossible.”
Orban wants to refuse to sign
After weeks of wrangling, a majority of EU member states reached agreement on Wednesday on so-called crisis regulation, a central element of the EU’s planned asylum reform. This should pave the way for reform as a whole. The governments of Poland and Hungary voted against the regulation, while Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia abstained.
Hungary and Poland are particularly opposed to the fact that, according to the plans, some of the asylum seekers will be removed from heavily overburdened countries such as Italy and Greece in the future. Countries unwilling to accept refugees would be forced to make compensation payments.
Both countries require that all decisions on migration issues be taken unanimously at the level of heads of state and government. According to the EU treaty, a qualified majority is sufficient – i.e. 15 EU countries, representing 65 percent of the European population. Orbán has now announced that he will not sign a planned joint statement.
Orban against aid to Ukraine and sanctions on Azerbaijan
Orbán also threatens to block additional aid plans for Ukraine. Regarding proposals to make up to €70 billion available to support Ukraine until the end of 2027, Orban said that under no circumstances would they agree to an ill-considered budget expansion. Hungary wants a ceasefire and peace. Additional weapons deliveries would prolong the killing, he argued.
Furthermore, the Hungarian Prime Minister rejects EU sanctions against Azerbaijan. “If we want to become energy independent from Russia, we need Azerbaijan,” Orbán said, referring to negotiations over gas supplies to Europe. “Azerbaijan is a key country. Without Azerbaijan we cannot have energy independence,” Orban emphasized in response to calls within the EU to impose sanctions against the government in Baku over the military capture of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, inhabited by ethnic Armenians. and located in the middle of Azerbaijan. This led to a massive exodus of the local population to Armenia.
Scholz calls for EU reform
Taking into account these difficult negotiations regarding asylum reform, for example, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out in favor of Union reforms in the context of the planned expansion of the EU. In particular, decision-making structures need to be changed, Scholz said before the meeting began in Granada.
“Unanimity cannot remain when it comes to taxes and foreign policy,” he said. It is therefore good that the 27 EU Heads of State and Government begin the debate on the necessary reforms at the informal summit, without any pressure to make a decision.
Scholz added that there also needs to be discussion about the future size of the Commission and the distribution of seats in the European Parliament. It cannot happen that the EU “simply expands the Commission and invents new ministries” when it joins further. The EU’s ability to act must be guaranteed in any case.
Eight states applied for EU membership – in addition to Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Turkey, the Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. There is also a candidacy from Georgia and Kosovo.