BRUSSELS
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban fired back Thursday at criticism against his country’s policy towards the influx of refugees fleeing poverty, war and persecution back home.
Speaking at a joint press conference with European Parliament President Martin Schulz on Thursday in Brussels, Orban said: "The problem is not a European problem the problem is a German problem… nobody would like to stay in Hungary."
"All of them [refugees] would like to go to Germany, our job is to register them," Orban said.
His comments came as thousands of people, seeking to travel to Western Europe through Hungary, remain stranded in Budapest.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius accused Sunday eastern European states, namely Hungary, of pursuing a "scandalous" policy against refugees, including erecting a fence on its southern border with Serbia.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Orban on Thursday for arguing that Germany has created migrant crisis by giving asylum to those refugees who managed to come to the country.
"What Germany doing is what is morally and legally required. Nothing more, nothing less," Merkel said at a joint press conference with Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga.
Merkel underlined that each state is obliged to provide protection to those refugees who escape wars according to the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees.
"Geneva Convention is valid not only in Germany, but in all EU member states," Merkel stressed.
In a controversial op-ed piece on Thursday, Orban also claimed that Muslim refugees pose a threat to Christian character of Europe.
"We should not forget that those coming here have been raised in another religion, and represent a fundamentally different culture. Most of them are not Christians, but Muslims. This is an important question, as Europe and Europeanness have Christian roots," Orban argued in his article, published by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Orban warned that European Christianity may soon be unable to protect the Christian value systems in Europe.
"When we lose sight of this, then the European ideal can become a minority in its own continent," he claimed.
'Schengen under threat'
Orban had earlier argued for strict border controls to stop influx of migrants and claimed that this was compulsory according to EU’s Schengen rules and Dublin treaty.
"We Hungarians are full of fear, people in Europe are full of fear because they see that the European leaders, among them the prime ministers, are not able to control the situation," Orban said and announced his country would launch a package of regulations by Sept. 15, including a physical barrier to stop migrants from entering Hungary.
"The Schengen treaty is under threat. This is absolutely clear. If we don’t solve the problem, then threat for free movement will increase," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said.
The Schengen area has abolished passport controls for travel between 22 of the EU's 28 countries -- plus four non-EU countries. EU rules state the country where a refugee first arrives must process their asylum claim.
But because the EU lacks a common asylum policy, with different countries handling asylum cases in different ways, disputes between member states over the distribution of refugees across the bloc have arisen.
'Please don’t come'
Orban, a right-wing nationalist, was asked if he had seen a viral photo of a drowned Syrian boy washed up ashore in Turkey and why he didn’t speak about compassion first before rules and regulations.
He responded: "If we would create an image … just come because we are ready to accept everybody, that would be a moral failure, because that is not the case."
"The moral human thing is to make clear, please don’t come. Why do you have to go from Turkey to Europe? Turkey is a safe country. Stay there. It’s risky to come," he added.
Call to share refugees
Also on Thursday, European Council President Donald Tusk called on all EU member states to boost efforts to share asylum seekers across the 28-nation bloc.
Addressing the media at a joint press conference with Orban, Tusk said: "Fair distribution of at least 100,000 refugees among EU states is what we need to do."
"It would be unforgivable if Europe split into advocate of containment symbolized by the Hungarian fence and advocate of full openness," Tusk said, expressing concern over a split between EU member states over handling the refugee crisis.
"There is a divide … between the east and the west of the EU. Some member states are thinking about containing the wave of migration, symbolized by the Hungarian (border) fence," he added.
Europe is facing the biggest refugee crisis in decades, with thousands of asylum seekers from Middle Eastern and African countries trying to reach Western Europe.
In July, a record 100,000 reached EU borders, while more than 150,000 entered Hungary in the first eight months of the year. Germany alone expects 800,000 asylum applications in 2015, four times the number last year.
Interior ministers of all 28 EU states are expected to meet on Sept. 14 in Brussels to discuss ways to cope with the migrant crisis.
