State secretary: Migration is wrong solution to Europe’s demographic deficit

Katalin Novák, Hungary’s state secretary for family affairs, on Thursday attended a conference on family-centred solutions to the demographic challenges facing Europe.

The European demographic situation is severe and solutions at the level of the European Union are nowhere in sight, said Novák of the ministry of human resources.

The real problem is that children are being born in small numbers in Europe, Novák told MTI by phone. Migration is the “wrong answer to the question that’s never really discussed”, she said, adding that Europe supported a “pseudo-solution” in this respect.

The best solution in Hungary’s view is to increase the number of births, she said.

“We support Hungarian young couples so that they can have as many children as they like and plan to have,” Novák said.

Hungary has conducted a comprehensive family-centred policy since 2010, Novák said. “We want having families — and large families — to become fashionable among young people.”

Representatives from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia also attended the conference alongside one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament.

Featured image: MTI/EPA

Source: MTI