Self-protection, providing help both key in migrant crisis, says Christian Democrat MP

Self-protection and providing help to those in need are both key in handling Europe’s migrant crisis, the parliamentary group leader of the co-ruling Christian Democrats said in an interview published by news portal gondola.hu on Friday.

Péter Harrach said the two objectives were served by providing help in migrants’ countries of origin and protecting Hungary’s borders.

He said “everyone must acknowledge” that the masses of people entering Europe pose a significant security risk for the continent.

“The universal responsibility of our globalised world and the objective to eliminate the core motivating factor of migration both call for radically increasing the help we provide” in migrants’ countries of origin, Harrach argued. “No doubt, this comes with great financial sacrifice but addressing the problem through preventive measures costs less than having to manage its consequences.”

Harrach said many who share the Hungarian government’s views on migration had found themselves “quietly shaking their heads or angrily lashing out” over Pope Francis’s remarks regarding the migrant crisis. “But I’m still Catholic and he [the pope] is a respectable pontiff,” Harrach said.