Hungarian FM: Egypt needs more support to cope with migration pressure

Countries that rein in illegal migration deserve special respect when “the ill-fated policies of Brussels” result in increased pressure of migration on Europe, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday, calling for greater financial support for Egypt.

Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Budapest that relations between the two countries had always been based on mutual respect, adding that Hungary had gained much as a result in terms of security and the economy.

“The value of this long-standing friendly cooperation has further grown, when global security has become rather fragile,” he said. “What makes Hungarian-Egyptian cooperation even more significant is that we both belong to the pro-peace global majority,” he added.

“We’d like to see the war in Ukraine end as soon as possible,” he said. “We represent the position that there is no solution to this war on the battle field; only diplomacy, talks, a ceasefire and peace talks can bring the desired results,” he added.

Szijjártó said that mass illegal migration was a severe security challenge, adding that Hungarian authorities had prevented 270,000 illegal border crossing attempts last year “without any help from Brussels”.

“In addition to not getting help, Brussels is continually worsening the situation by making pro-migration statements and encouraging migration,” he said.

“By now, human smuggling has basically become a flourishing business throughout Europe thanks to Brussels’ migration policies,” he said. “And since Brussels policies are stoking migration pressure, we must respect countries that help prevent this pressure from growing further,” he added.

Egypt is one such country, being one of strongest bastions of the line of defence in north Africa, despite the internal warfare in neighbourly Sudan which is also unleashing a wave of migrants, he said.

“So we’re asking Brussels … to increase financial support for Egypt, to enable Egypt look after the refugees from Sudan,” he added.