Hungary's Orbán threatened: No refugees, no subsidies!

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German Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz said that, if elected chancellor, he would push for the EU to cut subsidies to countries that do not take in refugees, politico.eu reported on Wednesday. His personal message to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was exceedingly simple: “no refugees, no subsidies".
‘We won’t accept that solidarity as a principle is questioned,’ said Martin Schulz, the Social Democrats’ (SDP) candidate for Chancellor in September’s parliamentary election.

With me as chancellor ... we won’t accept that solidarity as a principle is questioned

, Schulz said on Tuesday at a conference of a business lobbying group with ties to his party.

Schulz stresed the influx of refugees into the Continent in recent years was “not a German problem, but a European challenge."

Schulz said that, if elected chancellor, he would push for the EU to cut subsidies to countries that do not take in refugees.

He said the influx of refugees into the Continent in recent years was “not a German problem, but a European challenge."

His comments came as the European Commission voted to launch infringement proceedings against the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary for not taking in refugees under a mandatory 2015 quota system advocated by Germany that aimed to relocate 160,000 refugees across the Continent.East European leaders, particularly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, have repeatedly railed against the EU resettlement plan, Politico reminded.Shulz did not leave that without a comment.

Orbán said in Parliament on Monday that Hungary “will not give in to blackmail from Brussels and we reject the mandatory relocation quota." Schulz shot back swiftly at Orbán in his speech on Tuesday.
“Mr.Orbán says ‘That’s a German problem,'" Schulz said.

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.

Poland and Hungary are among the largest net recipients of EU funds, while Germany a net contributor to the bloc.

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Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Martin Schulz, then President of the European Parliament in Brussels in 2015. Photo by THIERRY CHARLIER / AFP
 

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