He mentioned Serbia as one of the “safe” third countries and said that migrants coming from that country should be sent back. The co-ruling Christian Democrats and the radical nationalist Jobbik party supported the bill, while opposition parties argued against it.

Socialist lawmakers left the chamber during the debate. Imre Vejkey (ChristDem) said EU laws were unfit to tackle a rise in immigrants. Ádám Mirkóczki (Jobbik) said immigrants were coming to Europe to “abuse the benefits system” and Hungary could easily become a “target country” if laws were tightened in the west.

András Schiffer, co-leader of opposition LMP, said EU countries did not have the resources to deal with immigration-related problems alone. Zsuzsanna Szelényi, a lawmaker for opposition Együtt, said Hungary should work on a solution jointly with other member states, adding that the bill in its current form only “paved the way to deportations”.

Tímea Szabó (PM) said closing the borders would not ease the burden on authorities, as they still had to examine requests for asylum in a preliminary procedure.

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