Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has rejected comments on Hungary made by the Swedish Prime Minister with relation to the immigration crisis on Tuesday, which he said were unacceptable.
"I find it extremely hypocritical and unacceptable for someone to confuse the transfer of EU funding with one of the greatest challenges ever faced by the European Union, the issue of immigration”, the Minister told Hungarian news agency MTI by telephone.
According to information from the Minister, he was speaking in reaction to comments made by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven during a press conference in Stockholm on the previous day, according to which he was “disappointed, because there are still too many European countries who are refusing responsibility. Hungary is one of these countries. Viktor Orbán is the Prime Minister of an EU member state that receives one of the highest levels of EU financial support. And accordingly the conclusion is a logical one: if we want a share of the collective, we must show that we are part of the collective.”
Mr. Szijjártó stressed that “Hungary is doing everything possible to reduce migration pressure on Hungary, Austria, Germany and the whole of Europe, while conforming to EU law. Hungary is adhering to both the Schengen and Dublin agreements and Hungary is constructing a fence along its southern border with Serbia so that it can protect the external border of the European Union and accordingly reduce the migration pressure on Europe”.
“So if there is a country that is doing everything in its power to reduce migration pressure, and which by doing so is showing solidarity with the other countries of the European Union, then Hungary is precisely that country, and accordingly I feel that we must reject threats of this nature”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade stressed.