Foreign minister: Growing number of countries reject UN Migration Compact

An increasing number of countries have raised objections against the UN’s Global Migration Compact and are expected to reject its adoption, Hungary’s foreign minister said in Parliament on Monday.

There are at least 13 countries that will vote against the compact in the UN General Assembly on December 19, Péter Szijjártó told at a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Those include the Visegrád Four group formed by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well as Bulgaria, Latvia, Austria, the United States, Israel, Australia, Dominica and Brazil, he said.

Hungary will also reject a “sister document”, the Global Compact on Refugees which he said would allow migrants to enter Europe “through a backdoor”, he said.

Concerning Hungarians in Ukraine, Szijjártó said that “Hungarian communities across the border will not be sacrificed for geopolitical interests or under international pressure”. Western allies exert “unbelievable pressure” on Hungary to give up its position vetoing Ukraine’s NATO integration, he insisted, but added that Hungary would insist until “Ukraine drops its anti-Hungarian policies”.

“I don’t care what Russia thinks about that matter,” he added.

On the subject of economic aid to ethnic Hungarian communities, Szijjártó noted that subsidies under the programme have so far totalled 60 billion forints (EUR 186m), the largest part, 38 billion forints, going to Hungarians in Serbia’s Vojvodina province.