EU new Africa strategy should not instigate migration, says Hungarian Foreign Minister

Hungary’s expectation from the European Union’s new Africa strategy currently being drafted is that it should focus on economic development and improving security instead of instigating new waves of migration, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday during the break of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting.

The aim of the new strategy is to boost the ability of African countries to retain their population in a way that keeps pace with population growth, Szijjártó told the press. If the strategy fails to work, new waves of migrants will leave Africa, he added.

Some EU countries consider migration to be a positive trend, believing migrants may be the solution to their economic or demographic woes, he said.

“Hungary’s opinion is that the common Africa strategy must not serve a means or a point of reference for certain member countries to force their will on the whole of the EU,” he said.

Szijjártó said Hungary focused on economic development and improving living conditions, having raised its funding for economic development schemes in Africa five-fold in a single year. Hungary spent 1.3 billion US dollars in 2017 and 6.9 billion last year on food, health, irrigation, and water management in the countries concerned, he said.

Hungary provides scholarships to 1,710 African students, and this year it has opened up opportunities to a further 905 students, he added.