The dispute within the bloc now centres on what to do with the people who have already been taken in or are currently entering the EU on their own, mainly through Italy, he said. If a member state, at national level, decides to admit migrants without controls, the consequences of that decision would spread beyond its borders and this cannot be borne internationally, he added.

Orbán said that if his government’s referendum on refugee quotas failed to stop Brussels, Hungary could be put in a position where the EU would be the one to decide whom Hungarians have to live with.

Speaking about the Schengen area, the prime minister said member states must fulfil their Schengen responsibilities. If a member state is located on the area’s periphery, that state must ensure the protection of the external border. Member states that fail to comply with the Schengen rules should relinquish their border protection rights to the EU, and if they don’t, their Schengen membership should be suspended or they should be expelled from the bloc, he said.

Orbán urged the EU to make a deal with the Libyan government as soon as possible on setting up a refugee camp on the country’s coast from where refugees can come to Europe in a controlled manner, provided that there is an EU country ready to take them in. The camp and the procedure as a whole should be financed completely by the EU, he said.

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