“It would be foolish to transfer even more spheres of competence to Brussels, especially when it is apparent that is it the member states who are providing effective solutions to historic challenges”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI on Thursday.

The Minister issued a statement in reaction to an interview published in German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung in which President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said: “The generation of Kohl and Mitterrand travelled to Brussels with the attitude that a strong Europe is in the interest of our country. The Orbán generation says ‘we have to defend the interests of our country against Europe’ – as if they were being attacked by Brussels”. According to the EP President, member states have been transferring increasing spheres of authority to Brussels for years, but most governments have not explained this to their citizens. “The same people who nod along in Brussels pretend at home that some anonymous force put pressure on them. That is deadly”, he said.

With reference to the statements, Mr. Szijjártó stressed: “Martin Schulz is wrong, because a strong European Union can only be made up of strong member states”.

“It would be foolish to transfer even more spheres of competence to Brussels, especially when it is apparent that is it the member states who are providing effective solutions to historic challenges”, he pointed out. The EU has been helpless against illegal immigration for years; “Brussels has failed in self-defence”, he said.

According to Mr. Szijjártó: “Waiting for someone to defend you who doesn’t even recognise the danger; now that’s deadly”.

(MTI)