“Hungary’s standpoint on migration is rock solid: We regard migration as a bad, dangerous and stoppable process and we say no to immigration and the resettlement quota”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday.

The Hungary Foreign Minister was reacting to an article published in Wednesday’s online edition of the Financial Times, according to which Germany wants to make EU structural funding dependent on the level of assistance provided to immigrants.

“The debate on whether it is possible to link political conditions to the payment of monies that are due in accordance with the EU treaties has been going on for some time. Several countries, including Hungary, have made it clear that it will not accept any kind of political blackmail with relation to this issue, because the flow of European resources is not a one-way street”, the Minister explained.

“Hungary has opened its markets to the European Union. Many German, French, Italian, British, Spanish and Dutch companies have achieved huge success in Hungary and many German, French, Italian, British, Spanish and Dutch companies have realised huge profits in Hungary and have taken them out of the country”, he stressed.

“EU funding does not represent a generous donation on the part of Western European counties and they cannot impose any kind of political condition in view of the fact that these monies are not a gift but are Hungary’s due in accordance with an EU treaty”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“According to calculations that have also been confirmed by the German EU Commissioner, over 70 percent of the monies that arrive in Central Europe via the European Union’s cohesion funds end up with Western European companies. A few days ago the German Federal Foreign Office’s Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth said he doesn’t like the expression that Germany is a net contributor, because in his view Germany is the net winner of the European Union”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade pointed out.

(MTI)