At a conference of Hungarian local governments, Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér said that Hungary’s borders are safe. Mayors attending the conference organised by the Association of Hungarian Cities with County Rank (MJVSZ) accepted a political statement against mandatory resettlement quotas.
In his speech, the Minister of Interior thanked Hungarian police, military and border patrol officers for the efforts they made “under inhuman conditions” at times to ensure that Hungary’s borders are protected
“Mass migration has to be halted along the external border”, only those must be granted access “who are genuine refugees, and who come without any ulterior motives” to the European Union, Mr. Pintér explained. He said that Hungary’s and the EU’s safety can only be ensured this way. “We do not want to let illegal migrants and adventurers enter the country, we do not want to become a central location for crimes”, he emphasised, adding that approximately 70 per cent of those arriving in Hungary were illegal migrants.
Mr. Pintér also spoke about the European Union’s proposal based on which 160,000 migrants could be distributed among the Member States. “What are we going to do with the other one million people, what will happen to them? Who will provide care for them”, and who will ensure locals’ safety, he asked. He also raised his voice against the proposal in terms of which for every migrant readmitted by Turkey, the EU would transport one migrant to its territories directly from the Turkish-Syrian border.
Mr. Pintér pointed out that the Government of Hungary recently declared a nation-wide state of emergency due to the migration crisis, saying that “we do not know how many people are stuck in Serbia or Croatia, and we do not know what they will do later on in order to enter the territories of the European Union and the Schengen Area”.