October 6, 2023 – 7:42 pm
Viktor Orbán at the end of the informal meeting of EU Heads of State and Government in Granada – Photograph: Ludovic Marin / AFP
The Hungarian and Polish prime ministers managed to avoid discussing migration at the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government in Granada. In their joint statement. Legally, this has no real importance, but rather a political decision.
In the morning, Viktor Orbán justified his decision by saying that, he said, they had recently bypassed Hungary and Poland and “legally usurped” the migration package. On Wednesday, EU member states accepted the final element of the asylum package with Hungarians and Poles voting against it, but European Parliament approval is also required for the entire agreement to enter into force.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who is preparing for the Polish elections, announced after the Granada summit that he has his own immigration plan. the According to the Guardian article Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, spoke about five important issues in migration management. The leaders agreed, for example, on the need to act against smugglers, but also to support transit countries and cooperate with international organizations.
At the event’s closing press conference, the Prime Minister of Spain, the host country, deemed the meeting a success, according to the MTI report. According to him, European leaders were looking for answers to questions such as what the future will be like, how many countries will shape it, how the decision-making process can be more efficient, and the economy more competitive and flexible.