NATO stated for the first time that mass migration coming from the South poses a security challenge, and allies must deal with this issue, the Prime Minister told the public service media on Wednesday after the NATO summit in London.
Viktor Orbán said for Hungary it was always important to belong to the Western military alliance, this is why it joined the organisation in 1999.
Mr Orbán said it was a great honour that he had the privilege of signing the accession document.
He highlighted that NATO membership is an important element of identity for his political community as well because it was the Christian national forces that took the country to NATO during their first term in government.
In the time that has gone by since, new challenges have also emerged in the world. One of them in mass migration, and the security risks that emerge in its wake, including terrorism, the Prime Minister added.
He said earlier NATO had accepted that there was such a threat, but had not identified it as one of the most important challenges.
This has changed now, he pointed out.
Mr Orbán said it is a significant development and a major step forward that the alliance has recognised that NATO, too, must deal with mass migration coming from the South.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and the ministry itself have completed many years of hard work leading to this achievement, he said.
He pointed out that this can be regarded equally as a Central European success because “we urged” NATO to divert its attention to migration and the related threat of terrorism.
As a result, the alliance will mobilise more means and more money in the interest of combatting migration and terrorism emerging in its wake, the Hungarian Prime Minister said.