Hungary, Britain agree on most issues except welfare limits on foreigners

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and British Prime Minister David Cameron found themselves in agreement on most global and European issues during the latter's working visit to Hungary on Thursday, with the sole disputed point Britain's planned restrictions on social benefits for foreigners working in Britain.

Both leaders said they were ready to commit forces to end fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Both supported the idea of strong external European Union (EU) borders, and underlined the importance of getting Russia to adhere to the Minsk agreement on Ukraine.

Both called for an economically stronger EU and advocated for stronger national parliaments and adherence to the principle of subsidiarity in EU decision-making.

In all, Orban said Hungary was in full agreement with three parts of Britain's four-point proposal for EU reform and that Hungary was ready to go even further than Britain on several issues.

Since Hungary was too small to go it alone, Orban said, and Britain had the size to make itself heard, Hungary would accept the measures it proposed.

However, the two leaders appeared strongly opposed to one another on Britain's plans to restrict access to its social benefit program for people who had been working in Britain for four full years.

Orban argued that the 55,000 Hungarians currently living in Britain contributed more to the British economy in taxes than they accessed in benefits.

Orban vehemently insisted the Hungarians in Britain were not migrants, but rather citizens of the EU who were merely exercising a right to live and work where they chose and were not to be discriminated against.

Cameron warned there had been many abuses of the system, that Britain would be holding a referendum on whether to remain in the EU by 2017 at latest, and that unless this issue were resolved, British nationals might well vote to leave the EU.

Cameron underlined that while his country might prefer to remain in the EU, significant changes would be necessary to make it worth its while.

Orban said the matter would be referred to the Visegrad Four (Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, known as the V4), all countries whose citizens worked in Britain.

Given that 790,000 Poles worked in Britain, he said he was sure they would be able to reach a common position. Then the V4 would negotiate with Britain to end abuses and find a non-discriminatory compromise -- one that would be acceptable to British nationals and other EU citizens alike. Endit