The EU’s quota programme is a failure and a dead end, Hungarian FM tells Financial Times

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called the European Union’s quota programme aimed at distributing refugees a failure and a dead end in an interview published in the Financial Times.

In the interview, which was published in Wednesday’s online edition of the British economic daily, Mr. Szijjártó declared that Hungary has been saying precisely the same thing for the past two years: the mandatory resettlement quota is dangerous, impossible to enforce, and contrary to common sense.

The Financial Times recalled that in an interview for a German newspaper the day before, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had declared: “The fact that a Government states that it does not care about the ruling of the European Court of Justice cannot be accepted”.

With relation to this, Mr. Szijjártó told the paper: The Hungarian Government is taking both Chancellor Merkel’s statement and the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) seriously, but the Court decision did not create any kind of legal obligation for Hungary. According to the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Hungary’s place is in Europe, and this is something that nobody can call into question.

“Further legal disputes on the contents of the quota ruling are expected in view of the decision of the ECJ”, he added.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, the realisation rate of the quota system is currently only 25 percent, and accordingly it is unfair to blame Hungary for its lack of success.

On the subject of the Ukrainian Education Act

, the Minister declared: “Hungary is deploying all possible diplomatic resources at international organisations to attack the targets of the Ukrainian Government, in view of the fact that Hungary is amazed at this level of reduction of minority rights”. “I don’t regard it as very European for children to be stripped of their right to study in their native language from the age of 11”, Mr. Szijjártó told the Financial Times.

“So many European politicians raise issues relating to the rule of law in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; I am excited to see if these same politicians will now voice similar concerns with relation to this anti-European law”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the British paper.

Photo: MTi

Source: kormany.hu/Financial Times