Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch has said that the European Parliament’s “pro-migration majority has gone haywire” over the issue of migration visas. In an interview to public radio, the ruling party politician recalled that the EP had discussed a proposal to introduce the so-called migrant visa, but this had failed to receive a majority in the final vote. He said the motion should have been ditched at that point. But, undercutting “the basic rules of democracy” under pressure from Socialist, Communist, Green and Liberal MEP, the proposal made its way back to the relevant EP committee and was accepted for a new plenary debate. Introducing a migrant visa, he said, would mean that anyone who wants to enter the European Union could turn up at an EU mission in their country and gain entry without an examination of their asylum claim or having to undergo any background security checks. In this case, they would enter EU territory and start their asylum application on European soil. “This means the EU would allow millions, or even tens of millions, of people with the intention of entering illegally to come here rather than protect the bloc’s external borders,” Deutsch said. “This presents a security risk to 500 million European citizens,” he said, adding that anyone would be hard-pressed to find words for this “out-of-control idea” that the “pro-migration EP politicians are pushing”.

Referring to the idea of handing out bank cards to migrants, Deutsch said it was “unbelievable” that Brussels was prepared to give the idea a hearing. “The European Commission shoves rule of law issues down the throats of central European countries, while ignoring the clear rules governing its own operations,” he said, citing the example of the rule that MEPs can submit an urgent written question once a month which the EC president or commissioners must answer within three weeks. Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU commissioner for migration issues, he said, received just such a question three months ago but no response has been forthcoming since, Deutsch said.