“The resolution adopted by the European Parliament last week includes two statements that are extremely dangerous and which are at odds with Hungary’s interests”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared at a press conference.

“According to Brussels, migration is a subsistence model, which is extremely dangerous in view of the fact that by making this statement the European Union is acknowledging everyone’s right to travel as a migrant in the interests of making a living while totally disregarding regulations on border protection and sovereignty”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“The EP’s resolution also states that we must aim to enforce the ban on extradition”, the Minister added, meaning that according to Mr. Szijjártó the EP wants to make sure that not a single migrant can be sent back to where they arrived from and that the migrants are eligible for all kinds of services regardless of their legal status.

“The African aspirations correspond to Brussels’ European Union position of ‘giving up itself’, the geographical and interest-related differences are not apparent”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister stressed.

The next round of intergovernmental negotiations within the so-called Rabat Process will be held in Marrakech on 2 May, Mr. Szijjártó told the press. 57 countries are participating in the Rabat Process, including the countries of the European Union and almost thirty African countries, the topic being migration. “At the latest round of intergovernmental negotiations they want countries to accept a statement that encourages the organisation and management of migration, and which regards migration as a useful and good process that should be supported”, he added. “The statement includes the fact that migration contributes to the development of receiving countries and the establishment of various migration routes must be supported and assisted”, he explained.

“In contrast, the position of the Hungarian Government is that migration is a bad and dangerous process that must be stopped; migration shouldn’t be managed and organised, it should be stopped”, Mr. Szijjártó emphasised.

“We do not accept the fact that migration contributes to the development of receiving countries in view of the fact that the European processes of the past two and a half years have shown that migrants represent a security risk in receiving countries, and accordingly the Hungarian Government will not be consenting to the adoption of the political statement”, the Foreign Minister said, adding that Hungary will be putting forward its own statement, and accordingly the European Union will also be unable to represent a joint standpoint.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, the Brussels and Marrakech cases also indicate that the number of fronts with relation to the debate on migration are not subsiding, but are continuously increasing. “They want us to get in line with the European mainstream, which will not be happening, no matter how many fronts they open on this issue”, he said in summary.

(MTI)