“The prime ministers in the latest EU summit acknowledged what I had told them without making a single remark,” Orbán said, adding that Hungary is actually abiding by a European regulation with the new legislation while protecting the interests of the more prosperous western European countries.

Commenting on a ruling issued by the European Court of Human Rights this week saying that Hungarian authorities had acted unlawfully when they detained and deported two asylum seekers in 2015, Orbán said Hungary had been sued by an international organisation financed partly by Hungarian-born American financier George Soros, which had ended up winning the case.

In other words the court punished a country that abides by the laws, he added. Orbán also talked about a document about the future of Europe which the bloc is preparing to adopt next week in Rome in preparation for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the EU.

Orbán said he had to clash with the prime ministers of more powerful member states because they are preparing to adopt a text which says that migration must be managed well and in a humane manner.

He said the EU should instead aim to keep migrants out of the continent and separate them from genuine refugees outside the EU’s borders.

Regarding the national consultation the government is set to start on the five dangers facing Hungary, Orbán said the consultation was necessary because Brussels was preparing to take away a new slate of national competences from member states.

He noted that the five issues in question were “defending” Hungary’s utility price cuts, migration, ensuring the transparency of foreign organisations involved in political activities in Hungary, ensuring Hungary’s right to shape tax policy and “defending” job creation schemes.

On the subject of taxation policymaking, Orbán said if that were to be decided in Brussels, “multinational companies will benefit, but Hungarians will not.” The same would be the case if member states would no longer have the right to set utility prices, he added.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Koszticsák Szilárd