“The Hungarian Government regards migration as a bad and dangerous process and will never agree with those who say it is good and who are organising and encouraging it”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Tuesday in Geneva before the UN Human Rights Council in defence of Hungary’s government report on migration and in reply to questions.

The Minister asked the Council to continue to observe Central and Eastern Europe, because in his opinion the region is providing good solutions to the European Union’s problems, based on common sense.

Mr. Szijjártó stressed that in 2010 many laws and pieces of legislation had to be drawn up quickly in view of the economic crisis, and in 2014 the Hungarian people renewed their vote of confidence, once again providing the Government with a two-thirds majority.

“Hungary’s greatest dispute on the international stage concerns migration”, he continued. He once again asked the international community to understand that the Hungarian Government regards migration as a bad and dangerous process, and that it will never agree with those who want to organise and encourage it; this is an irresolvable contradiction. He pointed out that in international debates some people are more worried for illegal border crossers than for the safety of the citizens of transit and target countries.

“The essence of the dispute is that we should recognise migration as a fundamental human right. We reject this. Migration is not a fundamental human right, nobody has the right to get up in the morning, point to somewhere on the map and decide to move there, and then set out and go there over hedge and ditch. This is at odds with all kinds of international regulations and is not a fundamental right. The right to a safe life is a fundamental human right, however. Everyone must be assured this right in their own country, and if that is not possible then in the first country that is already safe”, Mr. Szijjártó emphasised.

He stressed that encouraging migration is threatening the lives of people who set out from home, reminding those present of how many people have drowned at sea despite setting out in the hope of a better life.

“Assistance must be provided where the trouble is, instead of bringing the trouble to places where there is no trouble”, he said.

The Minister also said that the Hungarian Government regards border protection as the most important element of sovereignty. “A country that is incapable of defending its borders is no longer a country. In addition, Hungary is a member of the Schengen Area, which bears with it various obligations: the Schengen regulations must be applied as national laws, and they stipulate that the external border of the Area can only be crossed at one of the designated border crossing points during ‘opening hours’ and with the required documents”, he explained.

“This is something we are insisting on, and also on the fact that we must be the ones to decide who we do or do not allow into Hungary”, he stressed.

As on the previous day, he again pointed out that in 2014 four hundred thousand illegal immigrants had marched through Hungary and refused to go to the camps and supply stations prescribed by law, which is unacceptable.

“They occupied one of the country’s largest railway stations and walked down the country’s most important motorway. This cannot be explained or justified by human rights, and neither can the fact that someone illegally crosses a border between two safe countries” he continued, adding that attempts to break through the border are still a regular occurrence along Hungary’s southern border, and we will not allow entry to people who attempt to enter the country forcibly.

The Minister recalled that in 2015 when the migrants besieged the border and threw stones at the law enforcement officers guarding it, the police only deployed tear gas several hours later and after multiple warnings.

With relation to NGOs, Mr. Szijjártó said there are 61,600 non-governmental organisations operating in Hungary and explained that it is a legitimate expectation that organisations which influence public opinion should make it clear whose interests they are representing and from whom they receive foreign funding by making their financing transparent and public.

In closing, the Minister stressed with relation to the case of the Central European University (CEU) that in Hungary the law applies equally to all institutions of higher education and that there are no special conditions with relation to anyone. “There are twenty foreign universities operating in the country, but only one is complaining: the one that enjoyed unwarranted advantages. According to current legislation, universities can only issue diplomas from countries in which they perform education activities”, he added.

“We have made it clear to the CEU that if it begins teaching in the United States then the barrier to issuing American diplomas will have been overcome. The CEU has not been set any conditions that it cannot meet. If we succeeded in concluding an agreement with the State of Maryland with relation to a similar university, why couldn’t we succeed with the State of New York?”, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade asked.

(MTI)