“The European Union may be wealthy, but it is incapable of protecting its external borders”, Minister of Defence István Simicskó said on Hungarian M1 television’s Thursday evening current affairs program.
The Minister was attending an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in the Maltese capital of Valetta.
On the show, Mr. Simicskó stressed that defending the Schengen borders requires military and border protection capabilities, as well as solidarity and cooperation. “I think security is the most important value, and the European Union must assure the security of the citizens of the European Union”, the Minister stressed, adding that only Hungary, the V4 and a few other countries are doing this.
Mr. Simicskó said the Hungarian border barrier was extremely strong, noting that this does not, however, mean that we have solved the problem of migration via the western Balkans, and further efforts are necessary.
Speaking on Thursday on Kossuth Radio, the Minister said that the development of defence capabilities is beginning to receive increasingly higher emphasis within the European Union. This is probably because European citizens feel less safe, he added, stressing that in addition to developing defence capabilities, increasing financial resources must also be concentrated on in future.
According to the Minister, the idea that the EU should establish a so-called defence fund to facilitate military research and development through the provision of funding, is also a path that it is worth following.