'Fences protect Europe', Hungary's Orban says ahead of EU migration summit

FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a media briefing in Budapest, Hungary, December 21, 2022. REUTERS/Marton Monus/File Photo

BUDAPEST/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday called for European Union financing for border fences, reviving an idea long seen as inadmissible ahead of a summit of the bloc's leaders to discuss curbing irregular immigration.

The gathering of the 27 national EU leaders was called after Austria and the Netherlands led a growing choir of complaints about increasing arrivals. The bloc's border agency reported 330,000 irregular crossings last year, the highest since 2016.