Despite Hungary’s efforts to protect the European Union at its borders with Serbia, Croatia and Romania and enforce the Schengen treaty, the country is subject to criticism. Hungary did try to resolve the situation without sealing the borders but the migrants “did not accept this”, forcing the country to build “walls”, he said.

Orbán called the EU-Turkey deal a necessary move, adding that he supported all bilateral agreements with states from where migrants can be expected to arrive in Europe. It was also a good decision to pay the Turks because they cannot handle the pressure of migration without help, he said.

Outlining the essence of his Schengen 2.0 proposal, Orbán said that all reception centres and refugee camps should be located outside the EU, and the quota system should be a voluntary option. “We have sent money to the Turks and Hungarian border guards to Greece.

We are ready for anything, except being part of the scheme”, he said. “All rules and laws must be respected and if somebody wants to come to Hungary, they must go to an official border crossing and present their identification documents.

Those who try to enter Hungary in another way commit a crime,” he said. Orbán stressed that there is a connection between migrants and terrorism. He said that Europeans are involved in fighting in the countries where most migrants come from.

Even Hungarian troops are stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. “They are not present in Syria but [troops from] other European nations are. Many of the people who live in those countries consider us, Europeans, an enemy, whether we like it or not. ... Such people want to take revenge on European nations.

They can use the wave of migrants, as demonstrated by the past terrorist attacks,” he said.

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MTI photo: Árvai Károly