National interest for Syrian refugees in Turkey to return home, says foreign minister

The Hungarian government supports all decisions that allow for the return home of Syrian refugees from Turkey, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has said.

This would be in Hungary’s national interest, Szijjártó said in a video posted on Facebook on Saturday.

The migration situation in Turkey is becoming harder to handle, Szijjártó said, citing his Turkish counterpart in recent talks.

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More than four million migrants are staying in Turkey and the Turkish authorities are finding it increasingly challenging to provide for them, he said.

“Turkey has two options at the moment: either create conditions for the migrants to return to Syria or open the gates towards Europe.”

He said the Western Balkans would be flooded with hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants within a few days should the latter prevail. Those heading to the EU will come across the Hungarian border fence as their first physical obstacle, the minister noted.

“Such a situation must be avoided at all costs,” Szijjártó said.

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The government supports all decisions that prevent another hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from turning up in the Western Balkans and at Hungary’s southern border, he said.

It opposes all moves that could lead to the outbreak of international armed conflict in the Syrian region, Szijjártó said, adding that this would result in new waves of migrants travelling towards Europe.

Source: MTI