Denmark’s foreign minister visits Hungary

Denmark is an important ally of Hungary within the European Union and NATO, and there are “no real disputes” between the two countries, Hungary’s foreign minister told reporters after talks with his Danish counterpart on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó said that both countries seek to enhance the EU’s competitiveness and restore security in Europe.

“We agree that illegal migration and terrorism would remain serious challenges for the European Union in the period to come,” he said.

It is another matter of agreement that the EU’s external borders should be protected and the problems eliciting illegal migration tackled at their roots, he said. “It is clear that we have more points of agreement than disagreement,” Szijjarto said, adding that dialogue on the two countries’ disagreements had always been conducted “within the framework of mutual respect”.

Szijjártó stressed that Hungary would not support the EU’s mandatory migrant quota scheme under any circumstances, arguing that such a plan would be equivalent to an “invitation” to migrants headed for Europe and would also strengthen the “business model” of human smugglers.

Answering a question about Poland, Szijjártó said the EU should “cease its constant singling out of certain member states” as long as the bloc “is facing the biggest terrorist threat of all time”.

“We stand with our Polish friends and naturally we will veto any EU sanctions anyone tries to impose on Poland,” Szijjártó said.

As regards economic ties, Szijjártó called Denmark an important economic partner for Hungary. He noted that bilateral trade turnover exceeded one billion euros last year, adding that turnover was up 8 percent over the first five months of 2017. Of the 150 Danish companies employing over 10,000 people in Hungary, three have signed strategic partnership agreements with the Hungarian government, he said.

The minister said both Hungary and Denmark were interested in a fair Brexit.

Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelson stressed the need to defend the Schengen borders and find appropriate ways for halting illegal migration and human smuggling.

He said it was important to ensure that the rules of law and order remain intact and that prior international agreements are not undermined. He added that all EU member states should insist that the bloc’s basic principles are respected.

Source: MTI