Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó will be putting forward a six-point proposal in representation of Hungary at the Migration Summit in New York.

Mr. Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI he thinks it is quite right that the United Nations should be dealing with the question of migration in view of the fact that migration has become a global risk and “the time has come to debate this issue using common sense rather than having emotionally overcharged arguments”. “According to Hungary’s standpoint, we must base our actions on international law”, the Minister said, stressing that “international law clearly states that the right to a secure life is a fundamental human right, but arbitrarily choosing a country as a place of residence is not one of the fundamental human rights”.

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“Hungary, which has accumulated significant experience during the migration crisis, will be putting forward six proposals at the migration Summit”, added the Hungarian Foreign Minister, according to whom these proposals are important in the interests of enabling not just Europe, but the whole world to solve this global security risk.

“First of all we must handle the causes of migration, meaning we must provide assistance where there is trouble and not bring the trouble here. This is why we must not inspire the 30-35 million people who are in the vicinity of Europe to set out for the continent”, Mr. Szijjártó declared. As the second criteria, he explained that “It must be made clear that a wave of migration without any kind of control that leads to the illegal crossing of our borders represents a huge security risk and has given terrorist organisations the opportunity to get their terrorists into Europe, and as a result immigration has led to the highest ever terrorist threat in Europe”.

“Thirdly, we must make it clear that it is the responsibility of every country and every state to protect its own citizens. Accordingly, we must put an end to the hypocritical and often vile accusations that are made against countries that are protecting their own borders, and with them their own citizens”. Mr. Szijjártó said, stressing that “It must also be made clear that 90 percent of illegal immigrants have been brought to Europe by criminal organisations and people smugglers, meaning we must continue the battle against people smugglers”.

Hungary’s fifth proposal is the reinforcement of preventive diplomacy on the part of the United Nations to prevent crises, wars and armed conflicts that arise in the vicinity of Europe from escalating further. “And furthermore we, and especially the Western world, must realise that exporting democracy bears with it grave risks, especially in areas such as the Middle East and North Africa, which are populated by people from totally different religious and cultural backgrounds than for instance in Europe of the United States”, the Minister highlighted.

In reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó added that in his view there seems to be an increasingly large vacuum developing between the people and the political elite with regard to their view of immigration, and not just in Europe, but throughout the world. “While the political elite of certain countries are susceptible to approaching the issue of immigration hypocritically, the people are increasingly viewing the situation as a security challenge. This is precisely why Hungary is giving the Hungarian people the opportunity to clearly state their opinion on immigration”, he said. “The unequivocal decision by the people of Hungary will resound throughout Europe and the world and will make it absolutely clear that from this time forth we cannot ignore the opinion of the people”, Mr. Szijjártó said with relation to the national referendum on the compulsory resettlement quota to be held in Hungary on 2 October.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)