Hungarian calls EU, UN to account over ‘migrant cards’

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Monday put questions to the European Commission and the United Nations concerning “unidentified debit cards issued to a number of migrants”.

On the sidelines of a meeting of his EU counterparts in Brussels, Szijjártó told a news conference that the questions, addressed to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, were aimed at revealing how many such programmes have been launched, how many cards have been distributed and how much funds have been used for the programmes.

Szijjártó said he also wanted to know if the scheme was implemented directly or through civil organisations.

The minister insisted that issuing anonymous bank cards was an “awfully dangerous move” and it could compromise the fight against terrorism and humans smuggling, “but it perfectly fits the approach represented by the UN global migration pact”.

Szijjártó was asked concerning recent remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggesting that the Hungarian government had asked Austria and Germany back in 2015 to accommodate some of the migrants (flooding Hungary at the time).

Szijjártó declined to comment and said that “German politics is in turbulence and amid the manoeuvres and games all kinds of remarks are made”.

Featured image: MTI/AP

Source: MTI