Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has expressed his thanks to the foreign ministers of the Visegrád Group countries by telephone on Sunday for proving that it is possible to defend the European Union’s external borders through joint effort.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Szijjártó spoke by telephone with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria, and with the Bavarian Minister for International Relations and EU Affairs.

Hungary has successfully protected the external border of the European Union and of the Schengen Area, because the flow of illegal immigrants to Hungary has practically ceased altogether since the closure of the green border between Hungary and Croatia, he stressed.

“Hungary and the V4 cooperation have protected Europe and common European values and regulations. We have made it clear that Greece’s external borders could also be protected through joint EU effort”, the statement reads, quoting the Hungarian foreign minister.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)