BUDAPEST -- Hungary, the country that has constructed a wall between itself and Serbia, and announced a referendum to say ‘no’ to the distribution of migrants in the European Union, has “verbally attacked” Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi for “not complying with EU rules,” Il Fatto Quotidiano reports.

 In response, the young head of the Italian government claimed, “If Hungary or Slovakia do not sort out their morals regarding the migrant crisis and don’t give a hand,” (that is to say, if Hungary refuses to share migrant quotas), then Italy is “ready” to veto the European Community Budget.

 Italy has previously profited from the entry of eastern European countries into the EU, however, recently a war of words has broken out as Hungary criticises Italy over EU rules relating to the migrant crisis and the Schengen Area, (a collection of 26 European countries which have abolished internal border controls).

 The ‘MTI’ press agency, synthesising the words of the head of the Hungarian diplomacy, stated, “European resources belong to countries that are members of central Europe (…) Renzi is attacking central European countries which comply with the rules of the defence of external border security of the Schengen Area, whilst Italy is not respecting its own obligations arising from its own membership to the Area. If Italy would respect these common rules and standards, the EU immigration pressure would be much smaller (…) Central European countries, with their EU membership, have opened their domestic markets to Western European enterprises, including those of Italian origin, and have achieved substantial profits.”

 Paolo Gentiloni, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, wrote on Twitter, “With their walls and referendum Hungary have always violated EU rules on migration. Now at least don’t try to give lessons to Italy.”

 Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, claimed, “the situation has been completely misunderstood.”

 However, Benedetto Della Vedova, the Italian Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, does not buy this argument, claiming, “The Hungarian Foreign Minister does not understand, or pretends to not understand, the situation when it attacks Renzi and Italy. The European Union is based upon solidarity and sharing. If a decision is made on an EU level regarding the allocation of refugees, this decision must be implemented by all, especially regarding interests on how EU budget resources are allocated. If you challenge an EU decision on the migrant crisis, with or without a referendum, it is expected that someone will contest the decisions on the balance sheet.”

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