Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the rejection of the candidacy of Laszlo Trocsanyi to be the next EU Enlargement Commissioner by the European Parliament was caused by his work to stop the flow of migrants into Europe.

Trocsanyi, the former Hungarian Justice Minister, was voted down by the Legal Committee of the European Parliament, along with the Romanian nominee who was supposed to lead the transportation department. Orban would not disclose whether the vote means that Hungary is giving up on its candidate.

I’m certain that Trocsanyi is the best candidate for the European Commission. His sin is in that he helped me and my Government to protect Hungary from the migrants, Orban said, before adding that he has “several solutions in his pocket”.

Hungary was instrumental in stopping the 2015-16 migrant crisis, with the support it provided to borderline countries such as Macedonia to close their borders.