“The European Union should primarily be defending its borders and instead of inviting people to Europe it should be providing assistance to people who are fleeing war in the vicinity of humanitarian crisis zones”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in an interview published in Saturday’s edition of Italian economic daily IlSole24Ore.
Mr. Szijjártó said it was a huge mistake that European political leaders had to all intents and purposes invited the migrants to come to Europe after which they want to distribute them among the EU’s various member states according to quotas.
He stressed that the EU should primarily be concerned with protecting its own borders. “In addition it should be providing funding to countries that are close to the humanitarian crisis zones so people who are fleeing war don’t have to come to Europe but can instead stop closer to home. Accordingly, European funding must be used to ensure that countries in the vicinity of crisis zones undertake their responsibilities”, he stated.
In reply to a question on the Italian migration situation, Mr. Szijjártó said that defending the Italian coastline was a difficult task, but not an impossible one, adding that boats full of migrants should not be setting off from the coast of Africa at all.
“Everyone should be aware of the fact that anyone who sets foot in Europe illegally will be rejected. This is the only way to stop the boats”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had previously criticised Hungary’s migration policy, saying that Hungary views Italy, which pays billion into the EU treasury, as a “money-box”, with regard to which Mr. Szijjártó stated that differences of opinion are natural, but everyone must be afforded respect and “if we are attacked, we will react: we must protect our country”.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister declared that he would be happy to calculate what percentage of the European funding received by Hungary found its way back to German and Italian businesses.
“Nobody has given us a gift, European funding isn’t a humanitarian allowance, it is part of the treaty the EU signs with its member states”, he said, adding that Hungary is not in debt to anyone.
Mr. Szijjártó told the Italian economic daily that 600 thousand jobs have been created in Hungary since 2010, the unemployment rate has dropped to 4.8 percent and the whole Eastern and Central European region has become economically attractive. He acknowledged that there were differences of opinion with Germany concerning migration, but said that didn’t influence bilateral business relations. “The Hungarian Government is maintaining pragmatic and transparent cooperation with Russia, while the election of Donald Trump is expected to lead to an improvement of relations with the United States”, he added.