In agreement about migration issues with Lombardy leader, says Hungarian foreign minister

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said late on Wednesday that he was in agreement with Attilio Fontana, president of the Italian region of Lombardy and a member of the ruling Lega Lombarda party, about migration issues at a meeting in Milan earlier in the evening.

Szijjártó said they had been in agreement that only those migrants should be allowed entry in Europe that arrive legally and illegal migrants should be kept outside the continent.

The leaders of Lombardy precisely understand the problem of migration, considering that 450,000-500,000 illegal migrants are staying in the region, Szijjártó said.

As a result, he said they were in agreement that after the route of migration is closed on land, the possibility of migration over the sea must also be prevented.

He said he had assured Fontana that Hungary agreed with Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in that nobody should be encouraged to set off to Europe risking their lives over the sea. It should be made clear that if someone gets on a human smuggler’s boat in Africa, it does not automatically mean that he or she can get off in Europe, he added.

Lombardy is an engine of economic growth in Italy considering that 22 percent of Italy’s GDP is produced in the region, he said.

The Hungarian government agreed with four Italian companies about investment totalling 43 billion forints (EUR 133m), he said. The companies will invest in energy, food industry and logistics in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Zala County, Pest County and Csongrád County, he added.

Source: mti