“The European Union must be protected from hypocritical and deceitful Brussels bureaucrats like the First Vice-President of the European Commission”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in reaction to statements by Frans Timmermans at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday.
In an interview for a German magazine published on Thursday, the First Vice-President of the Brussels body said: The European Commission requires more support from EU Member States to protect fundamental European values from Hungary and Poland.
Mr. Szijjártó said it was infuriating that while a new terrorist attack has been perpetrated in the European Union and the Community, which is “losing its competitiveness from day to day”, still does not have an answer to the immigration crisis, all the First Vice-President of the European Commission has to say is “incitement against Hungary and Poland”.
The Minister stressed that the European Union is navigating itself into inconceivable crisis situations, because never before has it had to face such a level of terrorism.
“The world’s fifth largest economy has decided to leave the European Union, the Community is it incapable of finding joint solutions to the immigration crisis and is incapable of protecting itself”, he added. The only thing Brussels has been capable of in recent years is to further aggravate these problems”, he said.
Mr. Szijjártó said that in his opinion the European Commission has failed at crisis management and said he believed that instead of “inciting against Hungary and Poland”, the Vice-President of the body should instead be talking about the fact that the European Commission has failed to find solutions to the major problems previously listed.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister said it was clear that Frans Timmermans is frustrated by the fact that, in contrast to the European Commission, Hungary has provided a successful response to the immigration crisis, adding that this is why the Vice-President is continuously attacking Hungary.
“No matter who attacks us and in what way, and no matter who incites others against us and in what manner, be it even the Vice-President of the European Commission, the Government of Hungary will continue to refuse to allow anyone to enter the territory of Hungary illegally in future”, the Minister declared, adding that nobody can enter Hungary unidentified and without border controls, and this is something that the European Commission and its Vice-President must accept.
Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that in recent years the Brussels institutions have favoured a policy of allowing hundreds and thousands of people to enter Europe without any kind of identification or control. “We have seen the recent repercussions of this policy and this is something Hungary wants nothing to do with”, he stated.
“Guaranteeing the security of the Hungarian people continues to be our primary task, no matter what the Brussels bureaucrats or the EC Vice-President says”, he added.
At the press conference, the Hungarian Foreign Minister repeated the statement issued by the Government on Wednesday and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the London terrorist attack, and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Mr. Szijjártó said his wish for the authorities involved is that they succeed in uncovering the background behind this terrorist attack as soon as possible, noting that the Islamic State has already assumed responsibility for what happened.
The attack near the Houses of Parliament in London on Wednesday claimed the lives of five people, including the perpetrator, and injured some 40 others.
In reply to a question concerning the fact that Austria is considering reducing family benefits for foreigners working in the country, Mr. Szijjártó said the proposal would be examined, but the Hungarian Government would not accept any regulations that discriminate against Hungarians who work within the territory of the European Union. “We are not second rate European citizens that we should be discriminated against”, he said.