Szijjártó: Strong Europe to help competitiveness, preserve heritage

Washington, DC, September 28 (MTI) – Hungary believes in a stronger Europe that would boost economic competitiveness and help preserve the continent’s historical-cultural heritage, including its Christian roots, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a conference on central Europe in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

While Hungary welcomes all debates on Europe which are not emotionally driven, central Europe and the the Visegrád cooperation of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, is proud to have always represented “the voice of reason” in these debates, he said. Answers found by central Europeans to “critical situations” in the past have proven to be useful, in contrast to certain answers from the West, which have proven to be “inapt and hypocritical”, he insisted.

The immigration crisis in Europe has become an issue of sovereignty and security, the latter because of the possibility through the migration wave for terrorist organisations to send their “militants to Europe to commit terrorist acts there,” he said. A state’s sovereignty means it can protect its borders and decide whom to admit on its territory, he added. This notion is being attacked by unchecked migrants who violate borders and by the European Commission, which wants to mandate migrant quotas, he said. Szijjártó drew a parallel with Hungary’s anti-Soviet revolution of 1956 when the country “defended its sovereignty against a larger force”.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI