Hungary urges EU to donate €3bn to help refugees

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on the European Union to donate €3bn in financial aid to Syria's neighbours in order to help those displaced by the civil war.

Orban said that by supporting Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan with such a package, the mass migration to Europe would end.

Hungary has struggled to cope with an influx of over 150,000 asylum seekers this year and has announced that as of next week, persons entering the country illegally will be arrested.

In another reaction to the incoming wave of refugees Germany has announced that 4,000 troops have been put on standby. German officials told the BBC that numbers of people expected to arrive in southern Germany have doubled to 40,000 for this weekend alone.

Orban has told Germany’s Bild newspaper that the €3bn fund could be raised either by every EU country paying an extra 1% into the budget or by reducing EU spending by 1%.

"We have a plan, which I will submit to the EU at our next meeting," he said. "It means that we support the neighbouring countries of Syria with massive financial aid."

But not everyone is welcome. Orban said migrants from Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey should "return to where they came from...These people do not flee from danger."

"They did not come to Europe because they are looking for security, but they want a better life... The living conditions in Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria do not appeal to them."

There have been tensions between authorities and asylum seekers across Hungary, as thousands try to pass through en route from Greece to countries in northern and western Europe.

Yesterday Orban had warned that tougher immigration laws are to come into effect in Hungary as from the 15th of September, adding that people entering Hungary in the past weeks had "rebelled" against his police force, and order had to be restored.

Hungary has insisted it is trying to fulfil its obligations as an EU member and register all new arrivals.