Orbán makes migration the focus of Hungary's EU presidency

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told German media he wants to make the issue of migration a focal point of the forthcoming Hungarian presidency of the European Union.
Orbán told the Funke media group of newspapers in comments published on Sunday he welcomes the position of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is weighing options for outsourcing asylum procedures to countries outside the EU.
The EU presidency is held on a rotating six-month basis with Hungary to take over the role from Belgium on July 1.
Orbán said that Hungary is already implementing a policy which sees asylum applications being examined in third countries, for example at the Hungarian embassy in Belgrade, before giving the applicants a green light to enter to the country.
In mid-June, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered Hungary to pay a fine of €200 million ($216 million) and a further €1 million per day for not implementing a previous ruling to change its asylum policies.
The ruling followed a court judgement in December 2020 ordering Budapest to change its procedures for granting international protection and returning third-country nationals.
The EU presidency position is largely bureaucratic and involves setting meeting agendas and steering policy discussions towards a decision, sometimes finding a compromise among EU member states when there is no clear consensus.
Hungary has vowed to be a fair mediator, however Budapest has a stormy relationship with the EU institutions over rule of law and corruption issues.