Hungarian FM calls on EU to support Central Asia anti-migration efforts in Tajikistan

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó at a conference on Friday in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, said Hungary wants the European Union to raise its support for Central Asian countries so that they can protect their borders and avoid becoming transit countries for migrants from Afghanistan to Europe.

Szijjártó told MTI by phone that

“European security starts in Central Asia”.

Migration from Afghanistan is mainly directed to Europe, he added.

Cooperation with Central Asia is especially important because it is instrumental in preventing a migration wave from Afghanistan to Europe, he said, speaking from the conference on action against terrorism and extremist ideologies organised by the United Nations, the EU and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Information sharing between Europe and Central Asia should be intensified in order to identify terrorists and those suspected of terrorism, Szijjártó said.

Security risks in Europe recently reached a peak in the past few decades and another migration wave should be avoided at all costs, he said.

Pakistan has also taken steps to remove illegal Afghan migrants from the country, he noted.

On the sidelines of the conference, Szijjártó also met Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Foreign Minister Sirodjidin Aslov, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office, Vladimir Voronkov, and foreign ministers of other countries in the region.

Szijjártó and Tajik ministers also signed agreements on cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and water management.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI