“The United Nations Organisation and the European Commission are supporting migration processes, whereas instead assistance should be provided to the Western Balkan countries to enable them to stop illegal immigration”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI from Pristina on Thursday.
“Instead of distributing all kinds of anonymous migrant cards in a chaotic fashion, assistance should be provided to the Western Balkan countries to enable them to stop the waves of migration and resist migration pressure”, the Minister said.
Mr. Szijjártó met with several members of the Kosovan Government and the country’s head of state, after which he told MTI that a small country like Kosovo can help stop migration by remaining stable and defending its borders. “The stability of Kosovo is also important to Hungary so that it will be able to withstand the pressure if new migration routes come about”, the politician said.
“Europe is still under major immigration pressure in view of the fact that new migration routes are coming about in the Western Balkans”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade pointed out. According to information from the secret services, around 70 thousand migrants are currently on the Western Balkan migration routes, who want to get inside Europe, and many more are arriving from the Middle Eastern and North African regions, he explained.
“For this reason, it is extremely important that we provide assistance towards maintaining the stability of the Western Balkan countries, so that they can protect their borders and stop the waves of migration”, Mr. Szijjártó added. In theory, the Western Balkan migration route was closed in March 2016, but thousands of illegal immigrants continue to arrive in the region.
(MTI)
