There is a strong international media campaign underway against Hungary, and the planned quota system is a step in the wrong direction, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian daily Népszabadság.
In an interview published in the Wednesday edition of the newspaper, Mr. Szijjártó said that at the recent meeting of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Hungary’s name had been mentioned exclusively with reference to the fact that the country “is in an extremely difficult situation”. Only two speeches voiced the opinion that a border security fence is not a good solution, but without mentioning any countries, meaning nobody criticised the Hungary directly in their speech.
Following his speech, Mr. Szijjártó was in fact congratulated by several Ministers of Foreign Affairs, he said.
The Minister stressed that the quota system is a step in the wrong direction, because it concerns the distribution of only sixty thousand migrants, when in fact some 170 thousand have already entered Hungary this year, in addition to which it would only serve to further aggravate Europe’s position. “I have not yet seen a proposal that includes an acceptable quota system”, he added.
The Minister also declared that Hungary is expecting the European Union to push every member state to
protect the EU’s external borders and indicated that Greece is “totally ignoring” the Schengen regulations.
In the interview, Mr. Szijjártó stressed that if someone’s life or the lives of their family is endangered by war, dictatorships or political persecution, they must be welcomed, and this will be adhered to based on moral, religious and legal principles, but Europe is not ready to accept the arrival of hundreds of thousands if not millions or tens of millions of economic migrants.
“Hungary also welcomes in refugees, but this is something we do not talk about. We received thousands of Coptic Christians when they were being persecuted in Egypt”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted during the interview.