Orbán cabinet: NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan raises spectre of new migration waves
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NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan raises the spectre of new migration waves from the region and warrants new scrutiny of the matter, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.
Szijjártó told a press conference on the sidelines of a one-day NATO summit in Brussels that unless Afghanistan can be stabilised after the withdrawal of the troops, it will again become a hotbed of terrorism and people smuggling, and “tens or hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions will make their way to Europe from there.”
“Unless we can ensure peace and calm in the region, and avoid it becoming the hotbed of terrorism, we’ll face new serious migration challenges,” Szijjártó said.
He noted that
Hungary, in light of NATO’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, has brought home all Hungarian soldiers who had served there.
The minister stressed the importance of controlling the pandemic speedily and effectively by allies to the East and South. With this in mind, Hungary is providing 80 ventilators to five countries in need through the NATO Coronavirus Eradication Fund, with 30 going to Bosnia and Herzegovina, twenty to Moldova, ten to Tunisia, ten to Jordan and ten to Ukraine, he noted.