Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) talked to reporters in the Finnish Embassy in Paris, France, on Saturday, 3 August 2024. Orpo voiced his support for scrutinising the actions of Hungary as the president of the Council of the EU, following Hungary’s decision to expand its fast-track visa scheme to Belarusian and Russian nationals. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
- Next Article Hungary should be excluded from Schengen Area, says Tuppurainen
PRIME MINISTER Petteri Orpo (NCP) and Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen (PS) have expressed their support for scrutinising the actions of Hungary as president of the Council of the EU.
Orpo told YLE at the Paris Olympics on Saturday that it is important that the European Commission reviews and responds to Hungary’s decision to expand its fast-track visa scheme to cover eight additional countries, including Belarus and Russia.
The scheme effectively provides people with eligible countries a route without any security controls into the Schengen Area.
“Also Hungary’s actions as president have to be evaluated very critically. It can’t be that you’re constantly going against the common stance of the EU. We have to be firm when it comes to this,” he emphasised to the public broadcasting company.
Finland, he added, will address the situation in co-operation with other member states.
Finnish MEPs suggested earlier in interviews with the public broadcaster that Hungary should be stripped of its voting rights, Hungary’s presidency should be cut short and Hungary’s standing within the 29-country free-movement area should be re-evaluated. Orpo refrained from expressing his support for any of the ideas but revealed that similar options were on the table at the start of the year, when Hungary resisted EU support for Ukraine.
“Hungary was being difficult at the time, but it gave in. I remember saying to my colleagues that I don’t believe that the problem is behind us, and unfortunately that’s exactly what’s happening. We have to weigh up various means to intervene in Hungary’s actions,” he said.
Rantanen on Thursday welcomed the European Commission’s review of Hungary’s decision to expand the fast-track visa scheme, stressing the need to carry out the review without delay.
“It’s clear that we have to plug, not punch security holes in the Schengen Area,” she commented on X.
Tytti Tuppurainen, the chairperson of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group, on Wednesday proposed that Hungary be excluded from the Schengen Area and that border controls be reinstated on its borders with the 27-country bloc, citing security concerns associated with granting free entry to Russians.
“Hungary mustn’t be driven out of the EU, but we have to protect ourselves,” she wrote on the micro-messaging platform.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
- Next Article Hungary should be excluded from Schengen Area, says Tuppurainen
Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
