“People who criticise the Stop Soros package are questioning the Government’s right to make decisions, because it is clear that illegal immigration is at odds with Hungary’s interests and the dismantling of border protection goes against the security interests of the Hungarian people”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday.

“There are so-called civil society organisations” that are working to support immigration and for open borders, which is at odds with Hungary’s security interests. A government must take action against activities that go against the country’s security, and it must also do so via the employment of legal instruments, he said.

According to the Foreign Minister, this is what the legislative proposal is all about, and anyone who criticises it “is criticising the rights of the Hungary people with relation to their own security”.

With relation to the statement by Luxembourgian Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, Mr. Szijjártó explained that we are talking about a dispute between two governments between whom a dispute concerning immigration is natural in view of the fact that Luxembourg is pro-immigration, while Hungary has a government that is against immigration. The dispute between us has always existed and will continue to exist for a long time, meaning “we can count on there being a few more skirmishes between us”, he said.

“Hungary is protecting European values”, he declared. “Because protecting European values means respecting the European treaties, such as the Schengen Agreement and the Dublin Regulation, and this is what we are facilitating by protecting our borders and denying entry to illegal immigrants”, he pointed out. In addition, protecting European values also means protecting European civilisation; “we must protect Europe’s Christian traditions and Christian heritage”, he added.

“Anyone who criticises Hungary’s border protection measures is attempting to undermine the security of the Hungarian people. If we were not protecting Hungary’s borders then millions of illegal immigrants would have ‘stampeded’ though the country, not 400 thousand”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.

In an interview published in Monday’s online edition of liberal German daily Der Tagesspiegel, Jean Asselborn said: “The EU must stand up and be outraged” and activate Article 7. In a telephone interview published in Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet on Tuesday, he claimed he doesn’t hate Hungary or his Hungarian colleagues, he just believes that the country “is moving in a very bad direction”.

In reply to a question, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said “we have an open dispute with George Soros”; the standpoints and front lines are clearly defined. George Soros does not like the fact that Hungary is led by this government, he would like even more immigrants to come to Europe and he would like the borders to be open. “Our opinion is the exact opposite of this”; we believe that the borders must be protected and that increasing illegal immigration is not at all in the interests of the EU, he said.

Also in reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó confirmed that there is nothing surprising about the fact that the Elios affair was leaked during the election campaign. The right thing is for everyone to stick to the facts and not exploit the case “to generate political hysteria”, he said. This is the whipping up of a political scandal and “an obvious attempt to intervene in the Hungarian election process”; it is not the first, and very probably not the last such attempt, he added.

(MTI)