“Senseless destruction and unjustified violence” on the streets of French cities show why Hungary takes a tough approach to migration, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said. Violence broke out in cities across France on Saturday as protests over rising living costs and declining education services spiraled out of control. Groups of protesters vandalized public buildings, looted shops and clashed with police, with at least 2,000 people arrested in connection with the riots, while more than 600 police officers and other public employees were injured. Magyar condemned the unrest on Sunday, describing the videos and images showing damage to historic buildings and violence against police across France as “shocking.” “In the face of this senseless destruction and unjustified violence, perhaps it is now clear to everyone why Hungary advocates the strictest possible approach to migration, and why we will not weaken our border protection or immigration policy under any pressure,“ he wrote in a post on X. Magyar, a centrist who replaced Hungary’s longtime right-wing leader Viktor Orbán after a landslide election victory last April, has vowed to maintain his predecessor’s tough stance on migration, including strict border policy and the swift removal of people living in the country illegally. ‘Permissive polices of the past’ The Hungarian prime minister also said he was “glad” the EU summit last week had made it clear that “the overwhelming majority of European countries have woken up and want to break with the permissive policies of the past.” “The Europe we all love is in serious trouble today. It is our responsibility, too, to help preserve our continent as the most wonderful place in the world for our children and grandchildren,” he wrote. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also commented on the situation in France on Sunday, saying that "Poland would not repeat the mistakes made by other European countries or pay the price for them." “We are firmly defending our borders against illegal migration, we have our own asylum policy (we do not accept asylum applications), and we deport those who break Polish law. We will take an uncompromising approach to security,” he said in a post on X. At the EU summit in Brussels on October 15-16, leaders debated how to manage migration across the bloc, with member states divided over whether to take a tougher or more open approach to border controls and irregular arrivals. Poland, together with Italy and Denmark, led a coalition of countries calling for stricter migration policies, but faced opposition from countries such as Spain. Migration remains one of the most divisive issues with the bloc, as EU nations continue to disagree on how to strengthen the bloc’s external borders and share responsibility for asylum seekers.
