Talks on the United Nations’ global migration package – “Hungary’s security stays top priority”

Hungary and its citizens’ security continues to be the Hungarian government’s “number one priority”, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in New York on Friday.

During talks on the United Nations‘ global migration package, Szijjártó said that

Hungary has recently seen “what illegal migration is like, when crowds of people cross the country to reach better-off western Europe”.

“The events have proved that border protection is a very important responsibility,” he added.

The Hungarian government disagrees with the final draft of the package, because it sees it as “one with the rights of migrants at its centre”, Szijjártó said, and insisted that “focus should also be given to the rights of those that want to live in peace and security in their own homelands”.

Seeing previous drafts of the document, Hungary had mulled leaving the negotiations before, Szijjártó said, but then stayed because “we believe in dialogue based on mutual respect and trust”. The final version, however, still contains points the Hungarian government cannot agree with, he said.

He cited the preamble of the text stating that migration is a basic human right and an unquestionably favourable tendency as an example.

In Hungary’s view, illegal migration should not be encouraged. Finding adequate solutions to labour market and demographic challenges should be each country’s decision, he said.

No country should be pressured with the notion that migration is the only solution, he said.

Instead of facilitating migration, the focus should be on handling its root causes, helping where help is really needed, he said.

Hungary’s migration policy is based on common sense, he said. Only legal entries are allowed in Hungary, he said.

“We shall preserve Hungary a Hungarian state,” he said.

Photo: MTI/AP/Olmo Calvo

Source: MTI