“The European Council said at its last meeting that the Schengen regulations must be upheld and the EU’s external borders must be protected”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary is one of very few countries who are meeting these requirements.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs an Trade recalled that according to a report published by Italian news agency ANSA overnight, Italy’s head of government Matteo Renzi declared at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting’s panel discussion, in which former US President Bill Clinton and Hungarian-born American businessman George Soros also took part, that: “The real danger to Europe today is not Russia, but Hungary, which is building a new wall”. “Thinking about the future of Europe without Russia would be a tragic mistake”, the Italian Prime Minister added.

The Ministry also dealt with comments by French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, who said at an event over the weekend: “What Viktor Orbán’s Hungary is doing is intolerable. I draw your attention to the fact that Article 7 of the EU treaty enables measures against states who do not respect the values of the European Union”.

In reaction to the above statements, Minister Péter Szijjártó said that 275,389 immigrants had arrived in Hungary so far this year and that Hungary, while assuming the major associated burdens, has cared for the illegal immigrants in accordance with international law and has registered the vast majority of them.

Mr. Szijjártó stressed it had become clear that “the less time the leaders of a country spend criticising others, the more effectively they are able to meet European requirements”. “It is unfair that the Italian Prime Minister and the French Minister of Justice are criticising Hungary precisely for upholding European Union laws”, the Foreign Minister declared.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)