Christian European civilisation under attack, says Szijjártó in Germany

Berlin, September 1 (MTI) – Christian European civilisation has come under attack and it can only be saved through Europe-Russia-US cooperation, Hungary’s foreign minister said in Berlin on Thursday.

The most important forum of this trilateral partnership is the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Péter Szijjártó told public media ahead of a meeting with his OSCE counterparts.

Regarding the official Hungarian position he will be representing at the OSCE meeting in Potsdam, Szijjártó said there is a “security crisis” in Europe.

The terrorist attack on a church in Rouen, France, and the surge in the harassment of women indicate that “Europe’s Christian civilisation is under attack,” he said.

“We’re in the eleventh hour,” the minister insisted, underlining the need for a cohesive European security policy.

He said setting up a joint European army was an important element of such a policy. Protecting the continent’s borders is also important, but in order to do so it is vital that European institutions ditch their “hypocritical policies” that inspire hundreds of thousands of people to set off for Europe, Szijjártó said.

Instead of “inspiring migrants” to come to Europe, EU institutions should concentrate on trying to ease the migration pressure on the continent, as Hungary has been doing for the past year and a half, the minister said.

He said it was also imperative to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group and for Europe to contribute to resolving the various conflicts in its south-eastern neighbouring region.

But Europe on its own cannot accomplish all this, and it needs to work with Russia and the US in a partnership, Szijjarto insisted.

Asked to comment on the German government’s changes to its migration policy, he said there were still likely to be differences of opinion between Hungary and Germany. Over the past year and a half, only Hungary and the Visegrad Group of Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic have been consistent in their views on the migrant crisis, Szijjártó said.

In response, the ruling Fidesz party said left-wing parties must give a clear answer to the question of whether or not they support “Brussels’ settlement plans”.

“Both the message and the picture with its obscene gesture deeply offend those Hungarians who feel responsible for the fate of their country,” the party said in a statement. “The referendum is a national issue which stands above politics,” it added.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI