“We must accept that international efforts to solve the crisis in Syria have so far not been effective and accordingly we cannot count on there being any reduction in the migration pressure on Europe in the short term”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in London on Thursday.
Mr. Szijjártó is in the British capital attending the international donor conference convened to help reduce the repercussions of the Syrian conflict, where he also met with British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, which whom he primarily discussed British proposals for the reorganisation of the European Union’s regulatory system.
In a statement to the press, Mr. Szijjártó said that there are 30-35 million people in Syria and other countries, meaning in the neighbourhood of Europe, who are living in circumstances that could easily make them decide to set off for Europe, and this could have very serious consequences.
In the interests of preventing the immigration crisis becoming even more serious a problem, we must recognise that the solution to the problem lies outside the territory of the European Union, he added.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, for this reason we must primarily assist people who have fled Syria to remain closer to their homeland to that they can return home as soon as possible once the conflict is resolved and get back to their old way of life.
This requires investment and development projects. It is in this spirit that Hungary is prepared to construct and operate a hospital within the territory of Syria one the security situation permits. The Government has decided to earmark 5 million euros in the first stage for this purpose and is cooperating with an aid organisation that already has experience in the field of providing foreign aid concerning the construction and management, the Minister said.
With regard to his meeting with British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, Mr. Szijjártó said he had told his British counterpart that Hungary is seeking to develop a joint Visegrád Group with relation to Britain’s proposals for EU reform.
He also emphasised that the Hungarian Government must represent the interests of honest Hungarians who are currently working in Great Britain.
Hungary agrees with the British Government that the role of member state parliaments must be increased, and also with regard to the fact that national economic policy must serve to reinforce competitiveness and reduce bureaucracy. Hungary and Great Britain also agree that we must create an EU legislative environment in which both Eurozone and non-Eurozone member states feel equally comfortable, Mr. Szijjártó said.
A prerequisite for a strong European Union is that its member states must also be strong, he added.
With relation to British reform proposals regarding the social services provided to workers from other EU member states, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that Hungary is currently examining whether giving the right to a member state to temporarily restrict access to social services can be realised without discrimination and without endangering the free movement of persons, which is one of the European Union’s fundamental rights.
On the subject of Hungarian-British economic relations, Mr. Szijjártó said that during the first eleven months of last year bilateral trade had already exceeded results for the whole of 2014. Trade for the first eleven months of last year totally 4.6 billion euros, with Hungarian exports totalling 3.2 billion euros.
During his visit to London, Mr. Szijjártó also met with several business people and met with Cabinet Office Chief Oliver Letwin.
(MTI)
