A few years ago many Syrians chose to return to their homeland at that time, but now they are more inclined to set off towards Europe, he said. Concerning the six proposals Prime Minister Viktor Orbán put forward in Brussels, the director-general said that the European Union underestimates the importance of defending its borders.

“The prime minister focuses on preventing the next wave of migrants rather than on a system of distributing those who are already here,” he said. Nevertheless, it was not a defeat for Hungary that the EU approved the quota regime for distributing migrants, he said.

This way Hungary avoided being declared a frontline country, which would have involved the admission of several tens of thousands of migrants over the next years in hot spots, namely EU refugee camps.

“With the quota regime, Hungary will have to take in a maximum of 1,000 migrants, which is a manageable crowd,” he said.

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MTI photo: Varga György