Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister Nikolova held talks in Budapest

Unlike Brussels, Hungary and Bulgaria believe that the answer to demographic challenges is family support rather than migration, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday after talks with Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister, Mariana Nikolova.

“We will never allow them to force us change this approach,” Szijjártó told a joint press conference.

He said Hungary and Bulgaria were in agreement regarding the most important issues and Bulgaria continued to be Hungary’s strategic ally in terms of European issues.

Hungary and Bulgaria maintain friendly relations, he said, and it is important to further develop these. The two countries have faced many similar challenges in the recent period and have given similar responses to them, he added.

Both countries faced economic, security and demographic challenges and the responses by both governments have been successful, he said. The two governments are in agreement that migration is not the right response to demographic challenges, and these should be solved through family support, Szijjártó said. Increasingly value-added jobs are being created in Hungary, and last year was the first time that the rate of Hungarians returning from abroad outpaced emigrant workers, he added.

Hungary and Bulgaria are also in agreement that it is every state’s responsibility to protect its own borders and guarantee the security of its citizens. The protection of external borders is a priority for both countries, he said. Bulgaria employs serious border protection infrastructure to protect the EU’s external border and Hungary does the same, he added. Building a fence has proven a successful response to security challenges in both countries, he added.

Szijjártó noted that Bulgaria is not a Schengen member, and he lamented that despite the fact that Bulgaria has been able to protect its borders, it has been denied membership of the area. At the same time, there are Schengen member states that have been unable to protect their borders, he added.

Cooperation between Hungary and Bulgaria in border protection will be maintained, Szijjártó said.

Last year, 44 Hungarian police served on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and Hungary also provided technical help for Bulgaria, he added.