'NOT ACCEPTABLE’ Ex-EU chief Schulz demands Hungary loses subsidies over migrant clash
MARTIN SCHULZ has told the European Union (EU) to stop handing money to Hungary if the nation continues to refuse to take in refugees.
Martin Schulz has sent a warning shot to Hungary
The former EU Parliament president’s warning comes after a major clampdown by the European Commission to force countries to take their fair share of migrants during the escalating crisis.
Poland and the Czech Republic are also in the firing line for sanctions after refusing to meet European Union (EU) migrant quotas.
Germany’s Mr Schulz, former president on the European Parliament,warned Hungary’s Prime minister Viktor Orban he would push for Brussels bureaucrats to cut subsidies to countries that do not take in refugees.
Martin Schulz is vying to become the German chancellor
With me as chancellor… we won’t accept that solidarity as a principle is questioned
The Social Democrats (SPD) candidate for chancellor said: “With me as chancellor… we won’t accept that solidarity as a principle is questioned.”
But tough-talking Mr Orban hit back saying that his country “will not give in to blackmail from Brussels and we reject the mandatory relocation quota,” during a speech in Hungarian parliament.
Mr Schulz was quick to retaliate, saying: “Mr Orbán says ‘That’s a German problem’.
“Let me make this perfectly clear: When it comes to agricultural policy, it’s all ‘Yes, please.’
“When it comes to subsidies, it’s all ‘Yes, please.’ And when it comes to solidarity in refugee policy, it’s ‘No, thank you’ - that’s not acceptable.”
Martin Schulz: The EU is not falling apart because of me
The migrant crisis began in 2015
The European Commission, this week, voted overwhelmingly in favour of sanctioning countries that failed to accept EU migrant quotas, which aim to relocate 160,000 refugees across the country,
Anti-immigrant leader Mr Orban has repeatedly urged his country to say ‘no’ to back him on his stance on migration.
Ever since the crisis erupted in 2015, with more than one million refugees seeking refuge in Europe, Hungary has taken a robust stance on defending its borders.
The country was on a direct Balkans route used by migrants to make their way from Greece and into Serbia and Croatia.
The EU wants members to take their fair share of refugees
In response, tough-talking Mr Orban insisted enough was enough and ordered his borders with Serbia and Croatia to be shut.
Razor wire fences were erected along the border, forming a 108mile bench and the number of border forces along the Serbian crossing more than doubled.
But this hasn’t stopped people making the perilous journey - Hungary has registered more than 19,000 asylum applications this year and it's believed more than 14,000 migrants have crossed its southern borders illegally.