Politicians in Belgium have become nervous about Hungarian threats to send migrants to the EU capital, with State Secretary for Migration Nicole de Moor, along with Brussels Mayor Philip Close, saying they will block any buses from entering the city.
The Hungarian Government has said it plans to confront the capital: “If Brussels wants illegal migrants, they can have them”.
Since the press conference on September 6, where Hungary showed a line of buses ready to go offering migrants a free one-way trip to Brussels, politicians have been weighing in.
Speaking on the TV programme Ter Zake on September 9, de Moor said the threat to send illegal migrants was first and foremost “tough talk for its own supporters” by the Hungarian Government, adding: “But we can’t exclude they will implement their plans”.
She said: “I should hope that there is enough of a sense of reality there that it should stop there.
“But if they were to do this anyway, and send buses toward Brussels, we should take action. It is absolutely unacceptable for [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán to be making this threat.”
De Moor said it was unclear if Hungary had actual plans to send the buses and it was yet to be seen if they did, but added: “We won’t let this happen.
“I will not accept that Mr Orbán will play political games on our territory, at the expense of people who are given a false promise. That they get a one-way ticket to Brussels from Hungary just like that. That is unacceptable.”
She said the Belgian Government took the situation seriously and had contacted the European Commission to request the body “act decisively”.
De Moor also insisted: “If there are buses coming towards Belgium, we will block them and send them back.
“We cannot simply allow ourselves to be extorted and blackmailed with such political games.”
She went on to compare the behaviour of Hungary with that of Russia’s dropping migrants at the borders of the European Union. “We cannot accept this. To control migration we actually need more European co-operation and not pursue politics of each man for himself, as Hungary is promoting, as it is acting like the bully of the group.”
De Moor said the threatened plans were in breach of the Dublin Regulation. “Should Hungary actually proceed with the implementation of these plans, it would mean that migrants would illegally cross the territory of other member states to eventually arrive illegally in Belgium.”
The Dublin Regulation is an agreement between the EU countries, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Each asylum seeker shall only have his or her application considered in one of the countries participating in the co-operation.
Mayor of the City of Brussels, Philippe Close, said the Hungarian threat was “pure provocation”.
Close told Belgian media he had already sent a letter to the Hungarian Embassy and added: “We must react firmly. We are once again faced with yet another provocation by a country that benefits from the subsidies of the European Union and [of] Belgium, but which is incapable of understanding that the European Union is solidarity between countries and not permanent provocation.”
On X, he tagged outgoing Liberal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, asking him and outgoing interior minister Annelies Verlinden to stop the buses at the Belgian border.
That prompted a critical reaction from the Walloon Liberal Party President Georges-Louis Bouchez, who has sided with Hungary.
“Aren’t you the ones who want to welcome all the migrants in your great generosity? Hungary is right to show this self-righteous Left the real effects of its policies. You reject the deportation of illegal immigrants, the use of Frontex and pushbacks … And then you complain? What indignity,” he said.
Bouchez went on to retweet a post lashing out at the Brussels’ Mayor. “When a UEFA match has to be held in Hungary because they don’t dare to organise it on their own territory on the eve of local elections after so many incidents of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in their police zone without any consequences, decency dictates one should keep a low profile. But no.”
Hadja Lahbib, now Belgian foreign affairs minister and shortlisted to be Belgium’s new Commissioner under EC President Ursula von der Leyen, said the announcement by Hungary was a “provocation that contradicts European obligations”.
“Migration policy is a common challenge that must be tackled in an orderly fashion and with solidarity by all Member States,” she added.
The region of Brussels is not governed by the EU.
Hungary has raised the stakes in its spat over migration with Brussels, showing off the buses it said it could use to send migrants to the capital of the European Union. https://t.co/bw5klQYZR3
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 6, 2024
