Hungary and Poland hint at links between violent French protests and immigration

The tough immigration debate that took place behind closed doors last Friday in the European Council continues. Two of those present at the summit, the prime ministers of Hungary and Poland, have suggested that the violent protests that shook France this weekend are related to an overly permissive immigration policy, emulating the reading of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

The new Hungarian president, Péter Magyar, published this Sunday a video of the Limoges town hall burning, and commenting on the “shocking” images from France, he said that “in the face of this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, it is now clearer to everyone why Hungary advocates for the strictest possible approach to migration,” and why they will not weaken their “border protection or our immigration policy under any pressure.”

“I am glad that the current EU summit has made it clear that the overwhelming majority of European countries have woken up and want to break with the permissive policies of the past,” said Magyar, referring to the community debate.

His Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, also of the European People's Party (EPP), was more cautious in not directly mentioning France, but later suggested on his social networks that "Poland will not repeat the mistakes of other European countries, nor will it pay for them." "We firmly defend the border against illegal migration, we have our own asylum policy (we do not accept applications), we deport those who violate Polish law. In terms of security we will be ruthless. This is what I told the leaders of Europe in Brussels," Tusk remarked.

The messages evoke the reading of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who, after saying that “France is on fire,” once again attacked the flows, considering that “the immigration of people from a totally different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has destroyed that country that was once great.”

These criticisms come after the heated debate on Friday in which three countries, Poland, Italy and Denmark, tried to maneuver so that the summit conclusions reflected an implicit criticism of the massive regularization promoted by the Spanish Government, warning against decisions that cause a “call effect” and calling on the European Commission to increase cooperation between Member States in cases of national political decisions that may affect the rest of the Member States.

This text did not go forward due to opposition from Spain, but also from Luxembourg and France. According to diplomatic sources confirmed to this newspaper, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, cabled Sánchez in the room in the face of the fierceness of leaders such as the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederisken, or the Czech far-right, Andrej Babis, who went so far as to say, speaking of "what is happening in Spain", that "some politicians are capable of replacing the population with migrants just to be in those positions and to be in the Government."