Viktor Orban said he believes the EU’s laws on asylum should be tightened, just a week after he said in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris that immigration into Europe should stop.

“This is a Christian country…We can help those who are indeed chased out of their countries, but we have to make it clear we don’t want to be the destination for immigrants seeking to make a living here,” the Hungarian leader said on a Sunday radio talk show.

The number of people seeking asylum in Hungary was 43,000 last year, double the figure in 2013, Mr. Orban said. This compares to Hungary’s total population of a little below 10 million.

‘“If Europe continues to bury its head in the sand, these trends won’t change. It now seems like Brussels won’t shield us from this issue; we have to protect ourselves.’

The prime minister also said those immigrants who manage to escape farther westward within the EU are transported back to the country where they entered the EU.

“If Europe continues to bury its head in the sand, these trends won’t change. It now seems like Brussels won’t shield us from this issue; we have to protect ourselves,” Mr. Orban said.

In the Czech Republic on Friday, hundreds showed up for a rally in which protesters objected to allowing Muslims to settle in Central Europe.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said his country began intensifying its counterterrorism efforts about six months ago and plans to enhance cooperation with allies such as Turkey that are bearing the brunt of refugee pressures.

The Czech government Monday will discuss draft laws to give the state greater scope to crack down on potential terrorists, and plans to increase funding for the country’s intelligence services. The center-left Czech government has so far been reluctant to offer asylum to refugees from the Middle East because of concerns that potential terrorists might be among them. It eventually agreed to take in 70 Syrian refugees under EU pressure.

The Wall Street Journal