“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance in support of Hungary is a clear refutation of the false and offensive accusations of anti-Semitism against the country”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Hungarian M1 television’s Wednesday morning current affairs program.
Mr. Szijjártó highlighted the fact that Hungary was one of the European states that had done the most to facilitate the success of the fight against anti-Semitism: it has proclaimed a policy of zero tolerance, made Holocaust denial a punishable offence, made the history of the Holocaust a part of the national curriculum in schools, and has funded the renovation of synagogues in both Hungary and neighbouring countries.
The Minister said Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit also opens new political and economic dimensions. With regard to the economy, an agreement was reached concerning the automotive industry, which is important in view of the fact that increasing numbers of international companies are moving their self-driven car development programmes to Israel and Hungary has also committed itself to the automotive industry, with 30 percent of industrial production now derived from this sector.
“Cooperation between Hungary and Israel on the latest automotive industry technology developments is extremely important and presents major opportunities for the Hungarian economy”, the Minister said.
“The visit is important politically because Hungary has always urged the European Union to develop a balanced and politically correct approach to Israel”, he added.
Mr. Szijjártó also reacted to press reports concerning the fact that Italy is considering issuing emergency visas to migrants in the interests of reducing immigration pressure on the country, with which illegal immigrants would be free to travel further into the European Union and to other member states.
If this were to happen it would be a “major problem”, the Minister said, adding that on Monday he had spoken to the Italian Foreign Minister in Brussels and assured him that Hungary is ready t help stop the wave of migration. However, he said it was unfortunate that border protection solutions still continue to exist only at the level of thoughts and words in Europe.
Speaking on Kossuth Radio’s “180 minutes” program, Mr. Szijjártó spoke about the fact that on Wednesday the Israeli Prime Minister would be meeting the leaders of the Visegrád Group (V4).
Topics of discussion at the meeting will include energy, the relationship between the EU and Israel, the Middle East Peace Process and also migration. “The latter is particularly important in view of the fact that Israel is also fighting for its own security and sovereignty”, he added.