“It is clear that the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come. Therefore we need to correct the policy of open doors and windows. Now the focus should be on the proper protection of our external borders and on external assistance to refugees and the countries in our neighbourhood.”
That will come as music to the ears of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban who has been criticised for building a razor fence to keep migrants out .
‘If we let the fence work, then we will be able to control the natural borders and the migration inside Schengen zone. But if they don’t like the fence, we are also able to let migrants cross into Austria and Germany,” Orban said.
About half a million migrants have arrived in Europe this year, exposing deep divisions with in the EU. But despite a row over the relocation of 120,000 migrants, the summit was described as “excellent”.
Among other short- term actions before the next regular summit in mid-October, the Eu will set up ‘hotspots’ or special welcoming and processing centres in frontline countries to screen new arrivals.
Reporting for euronews Sandor Zsiros concluded:
‘Although there were no surprise proposals from the EU summit there was substantial debate behind the scenes about the direction of the migration policy. One diplomat said, Europe can not offer open doors and put up fences for migrants at the same time.’
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