Meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg – Hungarian perspective

Luxembourg (MTI) –  Europe’s interest lies with the United States and Russia reaching an agreement on Syria as the sole route to a political resolution to the conflict, Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. 

European Union member states made it clear that only a political resolution can lead to peace in Syria and the conflict could not be solved militarily, he said.

In a declaration issued at the meeting, the importance of fighting terrorist organisations in Syria and punishing crimes against religious groups was made at Hungary’s behest, he said.

Regarding the clause on migration in the European defence and security chapter of the EU’s global strategy, Hungary urged the council of ministers not to support it.

Hungary’s view is that migration is not the answer to either the EU’s demographic or labour shortage challenges, the minister said, insisting that border protection should be the bloc’s top priority. The EU must first be capable of protecting itself before dealing with anything else, Szijjártó said. Hungary has already demonstrated how this should be done, he added.

At Hungary’s request, the council of ministers added a clause to the document declaring that the implementation of the EU’s global strategy must preserve the right of member states to keep their migration policies as a national competency, so the power to formulate migration policies will remain at the level of member states, he said.

The ministers called on Russia to help bring an end to the Syrian regime’s bombings and help get humanitarian aid to where it is needed, Szijjártó said. He indicated that there was no unified EU stance on imposing sanctions on Russia over its campaign in Syria.

“In Hungary’s view, if the situation in Syria doesn’t change, then Europe will come out as the loser due to increasing migration pressure on the continent,” Szijjártó said.

Ministers also agreed that air campaigns above Aleppo must stop. Parties involved must do everything in their power to prevent an even greater humanitarian crisis, he said.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI