The wave of illegal migration is a very serious health risk, says Orbán cabinet
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All European Union members face similar challenges in connection with the novel coronavirus, and protective measures are expected to remain in place in the long term, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.
He told the first videoconference of EU foreign ministers that measures by member states to restrict border entry were fully legitimate. At the same time, it is commonly understood that freight transport must be maintained because this guarantees the continuity of supplies, he added. Despite this, tailbacks have formed on many borders because of lorry traffic, he said.
“Common efforts will be needed to overcome this”, he said.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said it was “in vain to expect” EU coordination in efforts to bring back home the Hungarian citizens stuck abroad. This has been so far organised in line with bilateral agreements and measures by individual member states, he said. Since 5pm on Sunday, an additional 726 Hungarian citizens have been transported back home this way, he said.
On some occasions, other countries helped Hungarians travel back home, which is likely to happen again in the future, he said, adding that Hungary would act likewise. Many hundreds of thousands of EU citizens are stuck abroad and in many countries the restrictions make even travel to the airport difficult, he added.
“A working team helping people return is on the job constantly,” he said.
Szijjártó said the two greatest challenges facing the EU were migration and the novel coronavirus.
“Unfortunately, it seems both will stay with us in the long term,” he said. “We will have to protect ourselves against both challenges in the long term,” he added.
He noted the EU had wanted to launch another mission in the Mediterranean to combat the Libyan arms trade. Hungary, he added, agreed with this in principle but only if it did not turn into a rescue operation to bring in illegal migrants from north Africa.
Hungary is right to make the EU hold the line. The “migrants” will impose tremendous strains on the economies of the EU countries, particularly the “front line” states like Hungary. But more importantly they are a reservoir of infectious disease like COVID-19 and worse (tuberculosis, measles, etc.) that will collapse these states health systems.