Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó characterised the behaviour of the Croatian Prime Minister as „pathetic” on Friday.
In a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, the Minister reacted to repeated criticism of Hungary’s migration policy in a speech by Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, who said refugees are receiving food and water in Croatia and are free to travel on to wherever they wish via Hungary and Slovenia; Zagreb does not wish to obstruct them.
According to Mr. Szijjártó’s assessment of the situation, Milanović is still spending his time launching false and unworthy attacks at Hungary and making unfounded and libellous statements regardless of the fact that the Croatian refugee care system collapsed within a single day.
“Perhaps he should instead answer the questions as to what mistakes he made during preparations for the arrival of the immigrants and why Croatia was unable to care for and accommodate the refuges for even a single day”, he suggested, highlighting the fact that “Croatia has failed the Schengen test and it has transpired that it still requires many years to successfully prepare (for membership of the Schengen Area)”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade pointed out that instead of urging immigrants to abide by EU law, Croatia is encouraging thousands of people to cross the border illegally with state backing, and as such to commit a crime. “This is not European behaviour”, he declared.