Hungarian PM Suggests EU-Egypt Migrant Agreement Similar to Deal With Turkey

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban expressed confidence on Saturday that it was necessary to reach a EU-Egypt agreement on the creation of refugee camps beyond the bloc's borders, similar to the EU-Turkey deal on migrants.

VIENNA (Sputnik) – According to Orban, 5.5 million people in Egypt are seeking to reach European countries.

The absence of such a treaty "may bring a big surprise" from Egypt, Orban said on the sidelines of the migration summit in Vienna, devoted to the Balkan route, as quoted by the MTI news agency.

Orban has also proposed to create a "giant" refugee camp on the Libyan coast, which will be engaged in processing asylum applications from African states.

Europe is struggling to find a solution to a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa. EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.83 million illegal border crossings in 2015, in contrast to some 283,000 in 2014.

In March, the European Union and Turkey agreed on a deal, under which Ankara pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory. In exchange, Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey would be relocated to the bloc on a one-for-one basis.