The European Union (EU) was never before compelled to face this many challenges on such a scale all at once at any time during the period following World War II as today, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told the Hungarian news agency MTI in Croatia at the international foreign affairs and security policy meeting Dubrovnik Forum on Friday.

He said: the pressure of immigration, the threat of terrorism, the departure of Britain from the EU, and the war in Ukraine increasingly appear to pose long-term, unresolved challenges to the EU.

The Minister summed up in four points the series of changes that the EU should – in the view of the Hungarian Government – undergo in order to find a way out of this extremely difficult situation.

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As the first proposal, he pointed out that the EU „must protect itself”. We must put an end to the untenable European practice which encouraged thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands to lay siege to and violate the borders of the EU and the Member States of the EU”, the Minister said.

Mr Szijjártó described the decisions of the European Commission (EC) adopted to date with respect to immigration as harmful and flawed. They must admit this, and set out in a completely different direction in the management of the immigration crisis compared with the path that has been trodden by the EC and the European institutions so far, he stressed.

The enlargement of the European Union with the countries of the Western Balkans must be accelerated, the Minister recited the second proposal. As he said, it has been ascertained multiple times that the situation in the Western Balkans and South-East-Europe is extremely unstable and fragile, and this fragile situation could be best addressed through the extension of the EU’s integration process to these countries.

Mr Szijjártó mentioned as the third proposal that it is harmful to delegate any more powers to Brussels. The stronger the Member States of the EU, the stronger the EU, he said. It has been ascertained beyond doubt that from among the answers given to the challenges of recent periods, only those given by the individual Member States were adequate, he added.

He finally pointed out: we need a strong and decisive leadership, and democratically elected leaders. All attacks which are levelled against democratically elected leaders in or around the EU are also attacks against the EU’s security.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)