Latest news with #Bakondi
Gulf Insider
4 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Hungary Sues European Commission Over €1 Million-A-Day
The Hungarian government has launched a legal challenge against the European Commission's decision to impose a daily €1 million fine over the country's refusal to accept illegal migrants. György Bakondi, the chief security advisor to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, announced on Wednesday that Budapest will file a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice. Appearing on TV2's 'Mokka' program, Bakondi said Hungary will not comply with the European Union's new Migration Pact, which he described as 'a clear call for illegal immigrants to be allowed in.' He emphasized that Hungary remains committed to its sovereignty and national security, and refuses to be pressured into taking in individuals who entered the bloc unlawfully. The lawsuit will be led by a team of lawyers with what Bakondi called 'a serious reputation,' including two former members of the European Court of Justice. Hungary's resistance to EU migration policy is not new. In 2015, the country faced a surge of more than 400,000 illegal border crossings within two months. In response, the government implemented border fences and legal restrictions to halt the flow. Officials credited these measures with preventing the emergence of terrorist threats, no-go zones, and the overburdening of public services. In a national referendum in 2016, 98 percent of those who voted rejected the proposal to allow the European Union to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary without parliamentary approval. The referendum had a 44 percent turnout, under the 50 percent threshold required to be considered valid. Click here to read more Also read: Ukraine Funds Left-Wing Smear Campaign to Oust Hungary's Orbán
Budapest Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Bakondi: Hungary's border protection measures are exemplary
György Bakondi, the prime minister's chief domestic security advisor, stated on Saturday that, despite Hungary's border protection measures being considered 'exemplary' by an increasing number of European countries, the country is instead required to pay a daily fine of one million euros. Bakondi told public news channel M1 that the fine serves as 'a tool' in efforts to get Hungary to allow migrants to enter its territory. He said the new German government was also working to bolster its border protection, 'and the countries where the would-be illegal entrants are being turned back don't like this'. The European Union's solution to this, he added, was the migration pact and the distribution of migrants among member states. 'This is what they're trying to persuade Hungary to do, but we don't agree with it,' Bakondi said. Bakondi said Hungary refuses to implement the migration pact, adding that the country instead aims to cooperate with and aid migrants' countries of origin and transit countries 'so that as few migrants as possible make it this far'. Many other countries, he added, were also experimenting with new solutions. 'Perhaps a change can be achieved in the EU's migration policy,' he said. As regards the current situation at Hungary's border, Bakondi said there was no change at the border with Romania, thanks in part to the efforts of the Hungarian and Austrian border protection forces. He noted, however, a significant increase in the number of illegal entries along the border section with Serbia compared with last year. With Croatia and Slovenia also having strengthened their borders, he said, Afghan people smugglers were resettling in the area, and Moroccan and Syrian groups were also appearing there. 'So we can expect armed clashes between rival people smuggling gangs trying to seize territory from each other, as we saw in 2023 on the Serbian side of the Serbia-Hungary border,' Bakondi said.
Budapest Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
More and more migrants are reaching the Serbia-Hungary border
Last year, Hungarian border guards arrested around 900 border violators in the first four months of the year, and almost 5,000 in the same period this year. György Bakondi, the prime minister's chief domestic security advisor, told public broadcaster M1 on Saturday that more and more migrants are reaching the Serbia-Hungary border, and human smugglers are constantly looking for new routes. Last year, Hungarian border guards arrested around 900 border violators in the first four months of the year, and almost 5,000 in the same period this year, Bakondi said. It is clear that human smugglers are watching for opportunities and regrouping their forces, for example, returning from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Serbia-Hungary border, he said. In recent years, several countries have strengthened their borders, so illegal entry is almost exclusively possible with the help of human smugglers, 'which is why this criminal business is thriving', he added. Bakondi noted that while Spain and Italy are already trying to find a solution to the problem of illegal migration with bilateral agreements, Germany still has problems with the integration of immigrants, such as a lack of language skills and expertise. 'In Sweden, where the police force is twenty-something thousand strong, there are about 60,000 immigrants in criminal gangs,' he added. He said more and more European Union member states were dissatisfied with the EU's migration policy, wanted changes, and saw the solution not in quotas, but in the firm control of external borders.
Budapest Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Bakondi: Hungary will have to live with illegal migration in the long term
György Bakondi said the "successful migration policy of the Hungarian government must be continued." György Bakondi, the prime minister's domestic security advisor, told M1 on Friday that illegal immigration remains active and there is no change on the horizon 'that would reduce the number of people leaving [their homelands, or change or possibly eliminate the profit of people smuggling organisations,' adding that Hungary will have to 'live with' illegal migration in the long term. Bakondi said the 'successful migration policy of the Hungarian government must be continued.' Commenting on data published by the European border patrol agency, Frontex, which said that illegal immigration fell by 30 percent in Europe in the first quarter of 2025, Bakondi said Hungary was 'in a special position'. 'Due to the reduced activity of Serbian law enforcement, people smugglers … are increasingly returning,' he said. Bakondi said that during the same period last year, 875 illegal entrants had been apprehended. That jumped to 4,732 this year, he said.
