Hungary must very firmly reject all accusations which are levelled against it on account of claims that it is not doing enough for the management of the issue of migrants, the State Secretary for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade pointed out in Budapest.
Levente Magyar had a meeting with the chargé d’affaires of the Austrian Embassy in Budapest who had been summoned to the Ministry after Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann indirectly criticised Hungary’s procedure in a statement made on Monday evening. According to the Chancellor’s allegation, Hungary is allowing migrants to travel on to Austria.
The State Secretary said: within twenty-four hours „we are compelled to contact the governments of two allies and friendly countries” on account of the fact that they „make statements in an unacceptable vein” regarding Hungary’s migration policy. Additionally, these are countries which are compelled to face „the enormous pressure” posed by illegal migration on a substantially smaller scale compared to Hungary, he added.
The State Secretary took the view that the Austrian Chancellor contradicted himself in his statement as while he first found it objectionable that Hungary is taking overly stringent measures against migrants, he then continued to say that the Hungarian regulations are not stringent enough, given that Hungary allows people to travel without documents. This in itself indicates that „there is some confusion in people’s heads as to whether Hungary should be criticised for being overly stringent or for not being stringent enough in its migration policy”, he said.
Mr Magyar highlighted: instead of criticisms, Hungary would like everyone to appreciate „the heroic efforts which the Hungarian authorities are making” in order to manage the wave of illegal migration that is flooding Hungary. All allied and friendly countries, in particular, neighbouring countries, are expected to show Hungary due respect, and not to allow themselves to level unfounded accusations, he added.
According to the State Secretary, it is all the more difficult to construe the words of the Austrian Chancellor in the light of the fact that Austria took unilateral measures against Hungary when „it effectively sealed the roads leading to Austria”. Hungary issued no critical statements in response to these measures as it is Austria’s sovereign right to take them, he remarked.
As he said, statements of this nature cannot be allowed to upset the excellent Hungarian-Austrian cooperation which exists between the two countries, and there should be no reason for concern.
Based on EU law, Hungary has two fundamental obligations regarding migrants: if someone enters the country illegally, the Hungarian authorities attempt to stop them and register them. Additionally, if the authorities are alerted to the fact that such a person intends to leave the country, they verify whether that person has the necessary documents because the mere fact that someone is registered in Hungary as an asylum-seeker does not give them the right to travel on to another EU Member State, the State Secretary explained.
Mr Magyar said that Hungary’s position is clear on the quota system: if this is the country where illegal migrants arrive and submit asylum applications in the largest numbers in the EU, „on what grounds could anyone expect us to undertake to do even more?”. The Government takes the view: „we do not want any more migrants to come here because we are hardly able to cope with the situation as it is”, the State Secretary pointed out.
Mr Magyar further said: it is to be hoped that the de jure review of the Schengen system could be avoided. At the same time, measures have already been taken for the de facto review of the Schengen scheme as it is hard to put any other construction on the Austrian decision that all vehicles that cross their borders must be checked.
The State Secretary pointed out: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán „maintain an excellent relationship” and conduct regular consultations. However, he is not aware of whether they have talked to each other in the last few days.
Mr Magyar finally said: the Hungarian Government wishes to make every effort to reduce the number of illegal border-crossings, and to find an effective solution to the management of the situation as part of a joint European effort.