The Brussels bureaucracy and the President of the European Commission have ‘targeted’ the Hungarian utility price reduction programme and are trying to ‘blackmail the country’ into paying market prices instead of regulated ones, which would be an ‘unacceptable burden’ for the Hungarian population, the political director of the Prime Minister declared on Sunday on public Kossuth radio.

Balázs Orbán stated that a Brussels document has been released, which clearly formulates the expectation

that the Hungarian government scraps its utility costs reduction scheme,

substituting it with various types of subsidies, partly from EU funds.

He noted that the government is now trying to explain to Brussels why this is unacceptable and why maintaining the system is crucial for the Hungarian middle class, Hungarian families, and retirees. Abolishing the utility costs reduction programme would have unforeseeable consequences, since currently, thanks to the programme, Hungary has the lowest electricity and gas prices in the EU. The war and the misguided sanctions have caused energy prices to skyrocket, the political director reminded, noting that this is palpable in every EU country. Everywhere it is the citizens who are made pay for the consequences of the sanctions, he reminded, noting that several countries have implemented various cost-cutting programmes, but none have been as effective as the Hungarian one .

Regarding mandatory migrant quotas, the politician emphasised that according to the Brussels plans, in countries that refuse to implement the quotas,

the border fence should essentially be dismantled,

and people should be accommodated in open, migrant ghettos with tens of thousands of asylum seekers waiting for their applications to be processed. This is unacceptable for Hungary and Poland, as the countries have fought for years to abolish open camps and establish a border protection system capable of stopping illegal migration and providing an extraterritorial asylum processing system. According to the new approach, these achievements would have to be given up.

Orbán stated that as opposed to how the European asylum system is currently working, Hungary’s position is that no one who is not eligible for legal entry should be allowed into the territory of Europe and the Schengen area. Those wishing to submit an asylum application should do so outside the Schengen area, and only those entitled to refugee status should be allowed to enter.

When asked about the legal and political tools at disposal to prevent the Brussels plans, he stated that while the decision-making process is ongoing, the administration keeps expressing it opposition to the adoption of the legislation at every possible forum.

If the new rules are adopted,

the Hungarian government will refuse to implement them,

and it can do so legally as Hungary’s Fundamental Law clearly states the obligations of the government regarding the protection of the country.

Balázs Orbán added that the government will likely come under more EU procedures as a result and there will be ‘legal battles’ to face, but it is clear that according to Hungarian law, the government cannot act differently and cannot contribute to the establishment of migrant ghettos. Viktor Orbán has made it clear that as long as he is the Prime Minister of Hungary, this cannot happen, the political director nailed down.

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Source: MTI