Hungarian FM Szijjártó calls for strengthening EU border protection

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Monday called for strengthening the protection of the European Union’s external borders, arguing that the novel coronavirus pandemic may lead to new waves of migration.

Szijjártó said on Facebook after a meeting of EU foreign ministers that the bloc should also work to eliminate all “external factors contributing to migration”.

“The European Union should … focus on the real problems of Europeans rather than encourage migration,” he said.

Of the Middle East peace talks, a focal point of Monday’s meeting, Szijjártó said the EU’s attempts on that count had failed so far. Hungary supports the United States’ peace plan for the region, he said, as the “best starting point for talks and the one with the best chance of being implemented.” Hungary opposes all EU declarations “that would reduce the chances of implementing the US plan … and all declarations condemning Israel for alleged or real intentions,” he said.

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Concerning the EU’s relationship with Turkey, Szijjártó called for a strategic approach within the European Union, noting that the bloc’s 2016 migration agreement “has put the EU’s security into Turkish hands”. The EU is yet to fully pay the 6 billion euros it had agreed to pay to Turkey, he noted.

Unless that happens shortly, Turkey may again open its borders towards Europe to the 4 million migrants currently on its territory, he warned.

The meeting also touched on the issue of the EU’s 2000 migration agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, Szijjártó said. Noting that the agreement was expiring this year, he called on the bloc to “rethink” prolonging it. “In the new situation” after the coronavirus pandemic, “the document has become one of those attempting to organise illegal migration“, he said.

The agreement focuses on regulating employment for people arriving to the EU from the signatory countries, Szijjártó noted.

However, millions of Europeans had lost their jobs during the pandemic, he said, and called on EU institutions and member states to focus on “solving the situation of Europeans rather than allow migrants into [their countries] who say they want to work there.”

“We have asked the European institutions to stop trying to legalise illegal migration,” he said.

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Source: MTI