Gulyas: Hungary to seek compensation for border protection costs from EU

The government has mandated European Affairs Minister Janos Boka to conduct talks with the European Commission regarding a ruling against Hungary over its migration policy, Gulyas said.

The government has established lines it “will not and cannot cross” during negotiations with the EC, Gulyas said. “One of those red lines is the decision the Hungarian people have expressed at a referendum. No one can be settled in Hungary against the will of the Hungarian people,” he said.

The government will continue to protect the borders from illegal migrants, and will offer one-way transport to Brussels for those who are granted asylum, he said.

Other countries’ costs in protecting the bloc’s external maritime borders have been fully or partially compensated, Gulyas said. Meanwhile, Hungary had spent the equivalent of 2 billion euros on the protection of the external borders of the Schengen Area over the past years, and received no compensation, he said.

Gulyas noted that in 2015, Prime Minister Viktor Orban had warned that Schengen would collapse unless Brussels implemented community law, the Schengen Agreement and unless it obligated the countries with external borders to protect those borders effectively. “Migration and Germany are dismantling Schengen”, he said, referring to Germany’s decision to re-introduce border controls.

Gulyas said that a “great achievement” of the EU, free market and travel within the Schengen Area, “is now at risk because Hungary wasn’t listened to. They did not make it clear to member states with external borders that they should act like Hungary: they should protect the external borders in an exemplary fashion,” he said.

Turning to the matter of wage increase, Gulyas said the government was aiming for a “significant” increase in the minimum wages for skilled and unskilled workers next year. Gulyas said the government wanted to see an agreement on minimum wage increases that spanned several years, in the interest of predictability, while the minimum wage should be linked to the average gross wage. He added that national economy minister Marton Nagy was given a mandate to negotiate with unions and employers. Gulyas said the cabinet had discussed the targets for next year’s budget, but not the budget itself.

Gulyas noted that some 250,000 people were earning minimum wages for unskilled workers in Hungary, and 700,000 were living from the skilled workers’ minimum wage.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to introduce a preferential credit for Hungarians who start work at age 17-18 and are ineligible for student loans, Gulyas said.

Gulyas said the government had weighed offering credit to workers in trades, but had decided against limiting the credit to people with vocational qualifications. Nagy will hammer out the details of the credit which will be introduced on January 1, 2025, at the latest, he added.

Alongside student loans, “an extremely successful product of the first Orban government”, the workers’ loans will give all young Hungarians access to preferential loans, Gulyas said.

Government spokesperson Eszter Vitalyos told the press conference that the past two weeks have seen investments worth a total of 84 billion forints (EUR 211.9m) completed, in a total of 32 projects.

Kindergartens and nurseries were built or renovated with 2 billion, Vitalyos said.

Road reconstruction worth 4 billion forints was completed between Eger and Szilvasvarad, she added.

In Lorinci, developments worth 1.8 billion forints were finished, including bus shelters, pedestrian crossings, car parks and bicycle docks.

Development projects in five settlement were completed, with a total of 750 million in funding.

Among business developments, investments worth 8.3 billion forints were made, Ms Vitalyos said, noting a 4.8 billion project at sugar refinery Magyar Cukor in Kaposvar, in southern Hungary.

Concerning talks initiated with the European Commission both concerning the fine imposed on Hungary and compensation for border control expenses, Gulyas said the Hungarian government was striving for an agreement through negotiations, adding that “any other step will only be taken should those talks fail”. He added that “Hungary has never requested a full refund for its total border control cost of 2 billion euros but only for half the sum.”

“If Hungary is forced through a daily fine or a lump sum to allow migrants to enter, the government will spare the country; Brussels is a suitable place for them to find a new future,” Gulyas said. He called the EU’s position “hypocritical” adding that “Brussels thinks that migration is a good thing but they would not accommodate migrants”. He suggested introducing a regime in Europe “which does not allow for the arrival of migrants …, countries setting an example for protecting the Schengen borders should not be penalised.”

Concerning Germany’s decision to close down its borders Gulyas said the measure would only impact Hungary in that controls at road crossing stations would slow down freight traffic.

Touching upon the opposition Tisza Party’s proposal to address issues around border control in line with European regulations, Gulyas said “Tisza is a member of the European People’s Party which opposes migration in words only” and added that “one should not be surprised when an EPP member makes a pro-migration statement”.

The EPP, Gulyas said, “is not only pro-migration but pro-war … supporting decisions that lead to the prolongation of the war (in Ukraine)”.

Asked about re-nominating Hungary’s Oliver Varhelyi for the post of commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood policy, Gulyas said Varhelyi had done “an excellent job” and the prime minister “had no reason to nominate another person”.

On another subject, Gulyas said the government “had not even raised” the idea of setting up individual electoral districts in ethnic Hungarian communities. He added, however, that Hungary’s parliament had a clear obligation to “restore proportionality” within the current districts. “Apart from that, there is no task concerning the electoral system,” he added. Gulyas said that Hungary would continue to have 106 electoral districts, and 93 seats in parliament to be distributed according to party lists. “The next election will be conducted under the same rules,” he said.

Gulyas was asked about the recent dismissal of a Catholic priest “over a homosexual relationship” and he said the case had not been raised at the government meeting. Asked if the scandal had harmed the reputation of the Christian Democrat government, he said the leadership of the relevant churches were to make sure that such cases should not recur, “and if they still do, they should manage them in the most exemplary manner.”

He added that the Catholic Church had “passed a decision and suspended the priest as soon as the reports came to light”.

Regarding the negotiations on the minimum wage, Gulyas said the government was not going to set conditions to the process, but encouraged all parties to “raise [wages] as high as possible without putting jobs at risk”. Inflation is expected to be around, possibly below 3 percent next year, he said. At the same time, Gulyas noted that the difference between the minimum wage for skilled and unskilled workers was above 20 percent, and said the disparity could be evened out by implementing a wage raise programme spanning several years.

Meanwhile, the government is set to adopt an action plan for families and small and medium-sized businesses, planned to aid investments and developments of SMEs over the coming years, he said.

The government is planning to submit next year’s draft budget to parliament early in November, Gulyas said.

This year, the deficit is expected to fall by more than 2 percent, he said. Should that plan succeed and growth hit the expected 3 percent, the government will have resources to put measures into practice without increasing the state debt, he said. The aim is to keep growth as dynamic as possible, he added.

Put to him that a Median poll showed the difference between Fidesz and the opposition Tisza party at only 4 percentage points, Gulyas said he was not worried that this would put Fidesz’s victory in the 2026 elections at risk.

Gulyas called reports of a government shake-up “entertaining fake news”, and rejected reports that he would be appointed ambassador to Berlin as “wholly unfounded”. The prime minister is not planning a government reshuffle, “and will consult with everyone before appointing a central bank governor”, he said.

Commenting on remarks by the state secretary for health care, Peter Takacs, who said that some 10-15 percent of health-care workers were engaged in “unethical practices in patient care”, Gulyas said the practice fell under hospital directors’ purview, and that the health-care administration was going to propose regulatory measures should the need arise.

Asked about a 1 billion euro loan Hungary received from China, Gulyas said details of the loan were confidential at the request of the latter. Finance Minister Mihaly Varga has initiated an amendment to the contract so that the interest on the loan could be made public, he said.

Hungary could benefit from it becoming a subject of discussion in connection with the US presidential debate if Donald Trump becomes president, Gulyas said. Hungary had been a trailblazer in voicing opinions on several issues, “and that has brought the country fame” and given a larger weight to the prime minister’s statements than the country’s size would suggest, he added.

Regarding the nomination of the new Ukrainian foreign minister, Gulyas said good neighbourly relations with Ukraine hinged on restoring the rights of ethnic Hungarians to use their mother tongue.

Gulyas rejected the slogans chanted at a “march of pro-Palestine Bosnian ultras” after a football match on Tuesday, adding, at the same time, that “this would be a daily occurrence if Hungary handled migration the way the EU or the European People’s Party does”. “This was a one-off occasion; Hungary can’t ban marches by football fans.” The police maintained order throughout, and the march ended without any incidents, he added.

Responding to a question on whether Budapest would bid to organise the 2036 Olympics, Gulyas said that was an issue between the municipality and national sports leadership. “If they support it, so will the government.”

Asked about the remuneration of Paralympic athletes, government spokeswoman Eszter Vitalyos said their compensations have grown by 10 percent since the Tokyo Olympics, and the annuity of medalists and their coaches was on par with Olympic athletes. She added that the state secretariat for sports should review the compensation system in cooperation with the Hungarian Olympic and Paralympic Committees.