Translated from German by MissPiggy with much thanks

From this German language news source:

Orbán: The Austrian position and the Hungarian position are similar: we need to bring aid to Africa and not bring the problems to Europe. Some say that the solution is to get migrants to Europe because they think it will be good for their country. The Hungarian position is that we do not want that. There is an ideological difference. That is neither a solution for Africa nor for Europe.

In this case, our culture, which we have been cultivating here in Europe for 2000 years, would perish. We say that we want to help the Africans like the Austrians do: we are happy to support the development of Africa. So that Africa can provide its own population with a decent life. For example, Hungary provides 900 scholarships for African students from state funds.

AUSTRIA: Austria, like Hungary, has left the migration pact …

Orbán: Some international documents reach the decision makers just before signing. When I heard that the U.S. had dropped out of the negotiations, I read it myself, noting that this document could cause major problems, particularly concerning national security.  I consulted with our government and we decided to leave immediately. After that, many countries dropped out. So too Austria. We’re the bad boys again … now the bad boys of global politics.

AUSTRIA: You were the first to oppose the “welcome culture” in 2015. How do you look back on this time today?

Orbán: Since there was no borders between Hungary and Serbia, we could not prevent the migrants from coming to Hungary illegally. It was like an invasion. The migrants occupied the Budapest East Station. They did not want to go to refugee shelters where they would get food and meals; they also did not allow us to take them there.

Instead, they demanded to be allowed to move on because they are “expected in Germany”. I ordered that no one would be permitted to leave the country. Hungary is a member of the Schengen Agreement and wanted to comply with these rules.

AUSTRIA: That caused a great amount of criticism …

Orbán: Hungary adheres to its constitution and international agreements and treaties. You can not enter Hungary without a passport check which also means you can not travel from Hungary to Austria. Hungary’s trustworthiness and respect for the rule of law were at stake here. We wanted to show our Western allies that we can protect the border.

The crowd got bigger, the situation more difficult, but I held my position by not allowing anyone to cross the border. I understand those whose first reaction was to appear “good”. Our reaction was responsibility. One must not allow something to occur that is irreversible. Even if that seemed to be humane at the time.  It’s not “Good people” that are needed in order to defend a country, but responsible people.  Believe me, I do not have a heart of stone, but you can not protect borders with teddy bears and little flowers.

On the other hand, the migrants stormed the border, threw objects at the border guard and attacked the police. You have to fight back. Of course, this is not a feel-good job, but it is necessary for the security of the country. Anyone who wants to lead a country, must make difficult decisions. I want to be a person whose decisions support and respect the Hungarians. If I happen to be a good person while doing that, then that’s fine, but first and foremost I’m responsible for Hungary.

AUSTRIA: During that time did you talk to the then Austrian Federal Chancellor?

Orbán: Yes, because we had received information that human rights activists wanted to illegally transport migrants across the borders to Austria. I told him, that’s human smuggling. If that happens in Hungary, then we will arrest and convict the perpetrators. Then he asked me to open the border to Austria to allow the migrants to enter. The next day Chancellor Merkel called me, I said: We have everything under control and we will only let the migrants in as long as Austria expressly wishes. In the meantime, we had already built the border fence.

I thought it was a very fortunate circumstance that Sebastian Kurz was then Foreign Minister, because he also understood immediately that there is only one way to solve this crisis: Through the closure of the Balkan route. We always supported each other. At the border, we set up a Visegrad 4 border guard so that we can clearly show that our decision is final: that’s how we jointly protected Europe. I think that was a nice moment for us and for Central Europe.

AUSTRIA: Your campaign against Soros in Hungary has often been criticized. There’s even an accusation of anti-Semitism.

Orbán: In our opinion, Soros György is Hungarian and a talented compatriot. He and I have no good opinion of each other (laughs), but we belong to the same nation and we in Hungary do not discriminate against anyone because of their religion.

Hungary is a free country. By the way: unlike other Western European capitals, every Jew in Budapest with Kippa on the road is absolutely safe. One may speak freely and one may also criticize the government and demonstrate against it. Soros has a big network. He finances many NGOs. The EU also finances several Soros organizations. These NGOs are involved in political arena and that is fine too.

Politically, however, Soros must understand two points as well as everyone who lives in Hungary. First, we want transparency. Like every country, we want to know who these people are and where the money comes from. Second, there are limits when it comes to national security. Migration is a national security issue. We had peaceful discussions with Soros to the point where his organizations started to fund the migrants, encouraging them to illegally cross the Hungarian border.

This is not acceptable in Hungary. We have created laws accordingly in which such behavior is deemed an endangerment to national security. Our conflict is: He wants to get the migrants to Hungary and Europe and I will not let that happen.

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