Hungarian minister said what is needed to protect Europe’s future

Radical changes are needed in Brussels’ migration policy in order to protect Europe’s future, international law should be respected and those that act in line with it must not be punished, the foreign minister said in Madrid on Tuesday.

The ministry cited Péter Szijjártó saying after talks with Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares that Madrid would help Budapest in several areas under the arrangement of the current presidency trio of the Council of the European Union made up of Spain, Belgium and Hungary.

Szijjártó said Europe was currently facing some very serious challenges, such as illegal migration. Last year, the number of migrants arriving in Spain went up by 82 percent on 2022. At the same time, pressure was also increasing in Hungary, with 170,000 illegal border crossing attempts thwarted by the authorities last year, he added.

“Taking into consideration that the threat of terrorism is more severe than ever before in Africa, and economic development cannot progress at the pace of population increase, we can expect a migratory pressure to toughen on Europe,” the foreign minister said.

Europeans lose Europe?

“If Brussels maintains its pro-migration policy, then there will be a realistic danger that Europeans lose Europe because Brussels’ migration policy attracts people to the continent,” he added.

At the same time, Szijjártó said that speeding up the enlargement of the European Union was among the priorities of Hungary’s upcoming EU presidency.

“In terms of enlargement, we must focus on making sure that countries of the Western Balkans get entry in the EU as soon as possible,” he added.

Commenting on Hungarian-Spanish economic relations, Szijjártó welcomed last year’s record trade volume of 6 billion euros. He said he had met the leaders of several Spanish companies that had made investments in Hungary and they all expressed satisfaction about the business environment. Szijjártó also said that over 300,000 Hungarians had visited Spain last year, and more than 200,000 Spanish tourists had come to Hungary, both numbers increasing over 40 percent.

Szijjártó meets Spanish company execs

Around 200 Spanish companies employ some 50,000 people in Hungary, and continue to invest in the country, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Facebook on Tuesday.

Peter Szijjarto met the heads of Spanish car manufacturing, tourism, traffic, air transport, finance and energy companies for talks on further investments in Hungary earlier on Tuesday in Madrid.

“It was good to hear the feedback of Spanish companies, many of whom see Hungary’s economic strategy and the government’s economic policy as an example. Hungary’s attraction lies in its low taxes, an investor-friendly economic environment and well-trained workforce,” Szijjarto said.

Hungary has overcome last year’s economic difficulties created by the war, sanctions and the resulting inflation, Szijjarto said. “We have broken down inflation, maintained energy security and record employment, and proved that Hungary’s economy is operational without EU funds. The trust and investments of Spanish companies has been a great help,” he added.

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