Posfai said that of the pillars of solidarity outlined in the pact - quota-based distribution, financial compensation and technical assistance - Hungary considers only technical assistance to be acceptable.

At the same time, that owuld require the approval of the country facing mass migration that may need such assistance, he added.

The matter was subject to a preliminary discussion at a recent meeting of European interior ministers in Luxembourg, but no agreement was reached, Posfai said.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Posfai had bilateral talks with his Austrian counterpart concerning Hungary's objections to maintaining internal border controls within the Schengen area.

He said the idea was raised to replace direct control of the Austria-Hungarian border with a new regime in which authorities of the two countries could jointly monitor the regions on either side of the common border.

They also discussed temporary protection to Ukrainian citizens, Posfai said, adding that some member states with a large number of Ukrainian refugees, as well as Ukraine itself, had argued against extending asylum for Ukrainian men of military age.

European Commissioner Magnus Brunner reported that illegal entry across the common borders had been reduced by 37 percent in 2024 and by by 21 percent in 2025, and called the Schengen regime functional, Posfai said, but also quoted the commissioner as calling for further strengthening control at the common borders, reforming the EU's visa policy and simplifying administration between member states.

Participants in the meeting discussed Russia's "hybrid threat" against Europe, and said that an increasing number of tourist visas issued to Russian nationals and the presence of former Russian fighters in the Schengen area were posing security risks, the minister said.

The participants also supported more stringent visa requirements for Somalian nationals in view of the fact that the highest number of migrants in the EU were Somalis, and that the country would not repatriate more than 3 percent of those expelled from the EU.

The meeting also supported that European financial aid should by tied to a country's readiness to repatriate expelled illegal migrants, Posfai said.

Hungary's position is that challenges associated with migration should be addressed in the countries of origin or in nearby transit states, he added.

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

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