Eastern Europe is on the move, with some heads of state bucking the globalist trends emanating from Brussels and Strasbourg.
The BBB format – meaning Belgrade, Bratislava and Budapest – has gathered, with Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic, Slovak Roberto Fico and Hungarian Viktor Orbán showing a unified front on many issues, from migration to the war in Ukraine.
The three leaders affirmed today their efforts to curb illegal migration into the European Union, once again stating that ‘protecting the bloc’s external borders was the best defense’ and that more EU funds were needed for this work.
The illegal crossings through the western Balkans fell 79% year-on-year to just under 17,000 in the 2024.
Reuters reported:
“Meeting in Komarno, Slovakia, on the Hungarian border, the leaders praised their efforts to cut the number of migrants, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, who have come via the ‘Balkan route’ through Serbia and into the EU via Hungary.”
Migrants typically don’t stop in these countries, moving on to richer countries in western Europe, like Germany.
“Illegal migration remains a political problem across Europe nearly a decade after the crisis in 2015, when around 1 million people arrived in the bloc. Arrivals last year were around a third of that figure.”
EU leaders have agreed last week on charting a tighter policy to speed up returns of illegals.
Orban and Fico are some of the harshest critics of EU migration policy.
“’We were right when we said very clearly at the beginning of the migration crisis that the basis of the fight against illegal migration is the protection of external EU borders’, Fico said, calling the fight against illegal migration a priority.”
They think that a substantial part of the EU budget after 2027 should be devoted to fighting the serious threat of illegal migration.
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia has seen 80% fewer migrants this year.
After 2015, Hungary erected a heavily guarded fence on its southern border and Orban has clashed with Brussels over migration policies. He said asylum applications must be assessed before someone is allowed to enter the EU, saying this model, used in Hungary, was the only one that worked.”
Hotspots for migrant processing could be set up in places like Africa, and this could be, Vucic said.
Euronews reported:
“’We are talking about building camps in 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 of the 100% of illegal migrants who arrive in Europe, 80% stay there, and only 20% we manage to get back’.”
The BBB leaders paid compliment to the model of hot spot outsourcing that Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni launched in Albania.
“’There is a rebellion in Brussels against migration. Brussels’ migration pact is part of the problem, not the solution’, Hungary’s Orbán posted on X. ‘The only way to solve the European migration crisis is by protecting our borders and stopping migration. This what we are here for’. ‘In 2023, a decision was made to return 430,000 illegal migrants from EU countries, and just 84,000 have been returned so far’, concluded the Hungarian prime minister.”
Fico and Orbán their full support to Vučić for Serbia’s accession to the EU bloc.
“We’ve achieved results by working together, it was not easy, but this year, there are 80% fewer migrants than last year. We will continue to work together, and I believe that the results will be good’, said Vučić. ‘At the moment, 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 interest of Europe and our friends, our brothers in Hungary and Slovakia’.”
And while this did not make headlines in the west, they also talked about peace, the forbidden subject.
TASS reported:
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has asserted that he, along with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, are the only European politicians unafraid to discuss a peace settlement for the conflict in Ukraine.
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