Hungarian FM protests against EU attitude at UN talks on migration

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, has sent an official letter of protest to Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, because the EU delegation to the talks on the United Nations‘ global migration package had presented a position that lacked consensus within the EU28 bloc.

Hungary expects Mogherini to prevent the recurrence of such “unprecedented and scandalous” instances and give an explanation for what happened, Szijjártó told a press conference in Budapest on Saturday.

No matter what pressure Hungary is exposed to, the country will hold to its position and continue to defend its southern border, keep the fence in place and prevent the inflow of illegal migrants, he said.

Now that talks on the package have started, there is a growing international pressure on Hungary to change its approach to migration. As the basic proposition of the UN package runs counter to Hungary’s interests, the government had considered quitting the talks before. But after consultations with the Visegrad Group partners it decided to stay and try to modify the package, Szijjártó said.

The European Union can only represent a common position on an international issue if not only a majority but all the 28 member states agree on it.

The head of the EU delegation to the New York talks, however, presented a “common position” then sought to pressurize the Hungarian diplomat in charge not to expound the position of the Hungarian government, the minister said.

This affair demonstrates that “nothing deters” the European Union from imposing its immigration policy on Hungary, Szijjártó said.

The minister announced that he would personally put forward the Hungarian position in the next round of UN talks scheduled for March 12.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI