Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia plot victory for European anti-immigration camp

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Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia plot victory for European anti-immigration camp

Camps in third countries, fences and strict border controls have become the “new normal” in some countries on the continent, claiming to provide more security for citizens.

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Slovak populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić believe that, unlike their European colleagues, they have a formula for managing migration.

Speaking at his meeting in the Slovak town of Komárno on Tuesday, the Slovak Prime Minister gave attendees a glimpse of the future, Bratislava-Budapest-Belgrade style.

“We are talking about building camps in the migrants’ countries of origin or in safe third countries where migrants will be intercepted,” Fico said.

“We are talking about a better return policy because 100% of illegal migrants arrive in Europe, 80% stay there and only 20% we manage to return.”

Free leaders indirectly welcomed the hotspot outsourcing model launched by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Albania.

“There is a rebellion in Brussels against migration. The Brussels migration pact is part of the problem, not the solution,” posted Hungarian Orbán on X.

“The only way to solve the European migration crisis is to protect our borders and stop migration. That’s what we are here for.”

“In 2023, it was decided to return 430,000 illegal migrants from EU countries, and so far only 84,000 have been returned,” concluded the Hungarian Prime Minister.

In the name of trilateral anti-immigration cooperation, Fico and Orbán, both heads of EU member states, offered Vučić their full support for Serbia’s membership in the bloc.

“We have achieved results by working together, it has not been easy, but this year there are 80% fewer migrants than last year. We will continue to work together and I think the results will be good,” Vučić said.

“At present, there are only 477 migrants in the reception centers of the Republic of Serbia. We will of course continue to do our work in the interests of Europe and our friends, our brothers in Hungary and Slovakia.”

At the same time, Vučić said that “Serbia will never host migrant camps for other countries like Albania.”

What does this bring to Belgrade?

While Slovakia and Hungary, as EU member states, could benefit from Serbia stopping migrants at the borders, what would be the benefits for Serbia?

Oliver Röpke, president of the European Economic and Social Committee, believes that having supporters within the bloc will not bring big benefits.

“We cannot have a fast track without meeting all the criteria. While some countries encourage enlargement more strongly than others, I must say that I will insist that this will not be a superficial process. It must be a merit-based process involving civil society,” Ropke explained.

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“We have always been strong advocates of a common migration policy and a focus on legal migration routes.”

“I think it’s important, and we should not only focus on how we can deport so-called irregular migrants as quickly as possible, we also need to take a really balanced approach,” he concluded.

The new trilateral format seems to be developing while the Visegrad Group suffers from divergent views on the Ukrainian crisis.

Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia share the same soft approach towards Russia, while Poland and the Czech Republic have pitched their tent in the anti-Kremlin and pro-transatlantic camp.

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“The BBB (Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade) format is an opportunistic forum for exchanging views between leaders who are politically sympathetic to each other. Yet the BBB will never replace the Visegrad Group because its funds remain large,” Slovak author and journalist Andrej Matisak told Euronews.

“For Serbia, it is good to have two defenders (Hungary and Slovakia) within the EU when it comes to enlargement negotiations,” Matisak concluded.

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