“What took place in Hungary overnight is the result of two things: the European Union’s failed migration policy and irresponsible statements from European politicians”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Saturday prior to an informal meeting of EU Ministers.
In reply to a question from the press, Mr. Szijjártó also stated that Hungry has registered all of the refugees who are leaving the country and will continue to comply with EU regulations in future.
According to the Minister, refugees and migrants had become increasingly aggressive and had refused to cooperate with the authorities, to register as refugees and to go to refugee camps, which the Government did not force them to do in accordance with EU regulations.
Mr. Szijjártó explained that an emergency had developed because of refugees travelling by foot on the M1 motorway and along main railway line to Austria, and this is why the Government decided to send buses to transport the migrants to the border. In the Ministers opinion, what has taken place further reinforces the importance of the effective protection of the European Union’s external borders.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade also explained the legislative amendments adopted by Parliament of Friday and the fact that according to the Dublin Regulations asylum seekers must remain in the country in which they applied for asylum, and this is what Hungary is endeavouring to comply with.
Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz expressed his pleasure with the fact that the situation had been successfully dealt with in a humane manner, but added that it must be realised just how dramatic the situation is and that things cannot go on like this.
“We must find a European solution. No member state should be left by the wayside, because neither Hungary, nor any other member state is capable of handling this situation by itself”, Kurz declared.
Austria’s chief diplomat told the press that he had informed his Macedonian counterpart that thousands of immigrants are entering the country from Greece every day to travel on towards Austria, Germany and Sweden, and their numbers are continuously growing.
“Anyone who thinks they can sit this one out is deceiving themselves”, Kurz said, according to whom it is indeed quite possible that many more refugees will choose the Western Balkan route during winter rather than the Mediterranean route. The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs warned that the Macedonian authorities had informed him that the wave of refugees also included so-called foreign fighters, EU citizens who had gone to the Near East to fight, and who are now making their way home.