Hungarian official calls for Europe of distinct nations

Janos Lazar, chief of the Hungarian prime minister's office, on Thursday called on the EU to remain as a Europe of distinct nations, on the eve of the EU gathering.

Addressing a news conference here, he said the Hungarian delegation and indeed, the whole Visegrad Group (Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary) to Friday's informal summit, would initiate a proposal to have the European Commission back up and limit itself to its executive function.

EU decisions, Lazar said, had to be made by the European Council which consists of the leaders of individual countries, instead of allowing the Commission to pursue its own policies.

Hungary is particularly incensed over the idea of having to accept asylum-seekers from the Middle East and/or North Africa, an issue over which it has called for a referendum to reinforce its refusal.

The countries of Central Europe consider helping Bulgaria to close its borders with Turkey to be their top priority at this time, Lazar said.

The future of Europe would be decided on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, he said. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union while Turkey is not.

The Central European countries are all for cooperation, for advancing their common market, for establishing an EU military force, and for boosting Frontex, the EU's border management body, Lazar said. Speaking of Brexit, he said that EU security had declined with the exit. Hungary, however, was primarily concerned with the future of the Hungarians currently working in Britain, he added. Endit