The Prime Minister of Hungary has shared his one-word "secret" to achieving net zero migration in Britain amid the nation's skyrocketing small boat crossings.
In his first sit-down interview with GB News – and his first ever with a British broadcaster – Viktor Orban explained his method behind his solution to the crippling 2015 migration crisis, of which he was "very proud".
In response to the crisis engulfing the continent more than a decade ago, Mr Orban's administration constructed razor-wire border fences along its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia to block illegal immigration into the land-locked country.
Additionally, armed police constantly patrol the fences on the hunt for any suspicious activity around the area.
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The officials are assisted by thousands of surveillance cameras and a continuous length of a fibre-optic cable, which alerts officers to any interference with the fences.
Its latest crackdown, led by Mr Orban, aims to stop the large influx of illegal migrants and refugees crossing the border, keeping its migration figures at zero.
Meanwhile, in Britain, officials have splashed more than €2billion altogether to maintain the defence system at the border over the last several years.
However, last year, more than 40,000 illegal migrants made the perilous journey across the Channel to reach British shores on small boats – despite being separated by water from the rest of Europe.
Viktor Orban explained his method behind his solution to the crippling 2015 migration crisis, of which he was 'very proud'
|GB NEWS
Asked what the "secret" is to his success, Mr Orban simply responded: "Determination.
"So if you decide that you stop them, stop them.
"It's sometimes it's not the nicest job, but if you decide that this is our borderline and nobody can cross it without our permission, you have to keep the line and you have to do so.
"So in Hungary, it's very simple. If somebody is crossing the border line without getting a permission prior of that from the authorities, it's a crime and we treat them as crime makers.
BRITAIN'S MIGRANT CRISIS - READ THE LATEST:
Hungarian police officers at the Hungarian-Serbian border back in 2015
|GETTY
"So if you're not tough enough... You can't be half tough, you know. Yes or no? There is no between."
However, when pushed on whether Sir Keir Starmer, whose small boats record is officially worse than any of his predecessors, is to blame, the European leader avoided handing out criticism to the Labour PM.
"I'm not as brave to criticise any leader of the UK," he smiled.
In Hungary, officials redirect illegal migrants who attempt to cross to legal entry points so that they can claim asylum under Hungarian and European Union law.
So far, the set-up slashed the number of attempted crossings from more than 100,000 in 2022 to just 12,000 last year.
While the majority of cases are caught by the police, migrants who successfully make it through the fence are not allowed to remain in Hungary.
However, the country's battle to achieve net zero migration has been criticised by the European Union, while Mr Orban clashes with the bloc over its new pact on migration and asylum is set to take effect from June.
The Prime Minister has stressed his nation would not "accept a single migrant" – nor would it take part in the EU's attempt to impose a mandatory migrant quota for every member state.
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