Péter Szijjártó and the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates agreed that migration pressure on Europe and the migration crisis will not come to an end until peace is established in Syria, the fight against terrorism is successfully won and the European Union ends its policy of keeping its external borders open, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Hungarian news agency MTI on the first day of his trip to the Emirates.

It became clear during his meeting with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, that not only is the issue of immigration viewed in this way in the central half of Europe, but so too in the Persian Gulf, Mr. Szijjártó told the press.

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The Minister criticised the lack of progress with regard to handling the roots of the immigration crisis. “The conflicts in the Middle East are becoming increasingly serious, the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organisation is yet to achieve significant success and European leaders continue to only talk about the importance of protecting external borders while nothing is actually happening in this respect”, he said.

The chief diplomats of Hungary and the UAE agreed that solving the crisis in Syria requires a agreement on cooperation between Russia and the United States and a heightening of efforts against ISIS, in addition to which they both declared that border protection is one of the most important elements of national sovereignty.

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According to Mr. Szijjártó, Europe is currently defenceless and this state of defencelessness must be put to an end, because we cannot leave Turkey to handle the immigration crisis alone.

Tens of millions of people – 30-35 million according to estimates by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade – are currently living in the southern and south-eastern vicinity of the European Union who could easily set out for Europe at any moment as a result of armed conflicts or economic difficulties, Mr. Szijjártó explained.

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Our two countries also share an opinion with regard to the fact that we must help those affected to stay as close as possible to their countries of origin so they can return to their homes as soon as possible after the armed conflicts are over, the Hungarian Foreign Minister noted.

Mr. Szijjártó also met with the UAE Minister of Economy and held meetings with the heads of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in Tuesday, with whom the Foreign Minister opened the Hungary-Dubai Business Forum with the participation of 35 Hungarian enterprises.

On Wednesday, Mr. Szijjártó will take part in the founding session of the Hungary-United Arab Emirates Joint Economic Committee, the main task of which is to move economic and trade relations between the two countries into a new dimension.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)