Foreign minister: Hungarian authorities have recently prevented over 500,000 illegal entry attempts – Salzburg Europe Summit

On Monday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told the Salzburg Europe Summit that Europe should work together to achieve peace, stem waves of illegal migration, and restore the community’s economic competitiveness.

A statement from the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as referring to the war in Ukraine, the mass migration facing the continent for the past ten years, and economic questions “seen in a strongly ideological light” in the European Union.

“What do we suggest as in line with the EU’s interest? This will not be the mainstream position. We believe that Europe is interested in driving Ukraine’s development toward peace. Europe has an interest in reining in the waves of migration at last. Europe also has an interest in making economic decisions based on common sense,” he said. The Hungarian government, he added, “supports all initiatives aimed at peace in Ukraine. We will do everything to preserve national sovereignty and economic neutrality.”

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Concerning the war in Ukraine, Szijjártó said that as opposed to sending more weapons to Ukraine, adopting further sanctions, and enabling Ukraine to use their weapons against targets in Russia, “talks should be launched, and in the end, we should find a peaceful solution to save human life.” While “the first approach has simply not worked … the second should be given a chance … (we should) try and concentrate on ways to make peace and (ways) to avoid prolonging the war,” the minister said.

Szijjártó said Hungary was currently under EU sanctions “for protecting the EU’s external borders”. He said Hungarian authorities have recently prevented over 500,000 illegal entry attempts. He noted that under international law, refugees could be granted temporary asylum in the first safe country after fleeing their homeland. “There is no word about second, third … tenth safe country,” he added. “Unless we return to the foundations of international law, we will never be able to protect the continent’s security,” he warned.

Szijjártó said “a possible new economic Cold War” and the world falling into new blocs were “a great threat” and sharply contrasted with Hungary’s interests. He added that Hungary continues to be interested in connectivity, a “civilised cooperation” between East and West.

Hungary is one of three countries in the world in which all three of Germany’s leading carmakers have plants. At the same time, five of the largest battery makers in the East have committed to have production in Hungary, Szijjártó said. “If we put artificial obstacles in the way of companies dominating the continent’s economic performance, we could cause huge problems, while the competitiveness of the EU has become even weaker than before,” he warned at the Salzburg Europe Summit.

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