‘Pro-migration forces’ not to win in Budapest Process, says Hungarian FM in Brussels

“Pro-migration forces cannot win” at the Budapest Process interregional forum on migration starting in Istanbul on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.

This process will “become the symbol for stopping pro-migration forces”, he said in Brussels on Monday, on the sidelines of a meeting of his European counterparts.

This process will “become the symbol for stopping pro-migration forces”,

Szijjártó said in Brussels on Monday, on the sidelines of a meeting of his European counterparts.

Szijjártó said that Hungary would “not lend its name” to any European-level policies that would “involve inviting any further migrants” and added that the forum would not be concluded by a joint EU statement because “it would have clearly been a document promoting migration and encouraging the opening of further migration channels”.

“We believe that a decision on migration can only be made once because if a country allows masses of migrants to enter, there is no way back,” he added.

Hungary will stick to its policy to protect the southern border with a fence even if some forces would dismantle it, Szijjártó said. One person promoting the idea is Frans Timmermans, the first vice-president of the European Commission, who visited Budapest last weekend on the invitation of the opposition Socialists, he added. (Read more here: TIMMERMANS CALLS FOR FAIR WAGES IN EU AT HUNGARIAN SOCIALIST CONGRESS)

The international coalition organised to fight the Islamic State has achieved considerable military success but the terror organisation has since changed tactics and it is now trying to send back to Europe the 5000 mercenary-terrorists who had joined the fights in the Middle East and North Africa, he said. As a consequence, the external borders should continue to be protected “extremely strictly” and the same must be applied in terms of the Western Balkans, he added.

Migration waves can destabilise not only the transit and destination countries but also the countries of origin, he said.

For this reason, the European Union should not focus on inviting the citizens of countries that are in a difficult situation but on promoting economic development which can help the native African population stay at home.