Foreign minister: Budapest Process to become symbol for stopping pro-migration forces

The Budapest Process interregional forum on migration will become a symbol for stopping pro-migration forces, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Saturday, commenting on the forum’s next meeting held in Istanbul.

At next Wednesday’s meeting, the Hungarian government will not allow the forum named after Budapest to become a platform for bringing more migrants to Europe, Szijjártó told MTI. The meeting will see a fight between pro-migration and anti-migration forces, as usual in the recent period, he added.

“[US financier George] Soros and his network, United Nations officials and Brussels want to use the Budapest Forum to start another wave of migration towards Europe,” he said.

They plan to approve a resolution at the end of the meeting which states the need to open further routes for migrants, he said, adding that the Hungarian government “is most resolutely against this”.

A fight is expected because ever since the UN managed to get its global migration compact approved, various international organisations have attempted to “force through” parts of the compact at various meetings, he said.

They also want to use the Budapest Process for this purpose, but Hungary and others that promote an anti-migration stand will not approve the new resolution, he added.

The over 50 governments and numerous international organisations involved in the Budapest Process focus on migration issues concerning the Silk Routes Region, which refers to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. The forum was named after Budapest because the city hosted its first official meeting in 1993. In addition to the 52 member states, seven countries including the US have observer status. Hungary fulfils the role of co-chair and the forum has been chaired by Turkey since 2006.

Source: MTI