On Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated that the blindness of Hungary’s critics could lead to the end of European civilisation. The statement sent to Hungarian news agency MTI was a response to the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) calling on Hungary to “refrain from policies and practices that promote intolerance, fear and fuel xenophobia against refugees and migrants”.

The Minister said that these two organisations claim that Hungary is promoting fear and xenophobia. “This is not true, Hungary is talking about reality”, he stressed.

Mr. Szijjártó said that the CoE and the UNHCR are accusing Hungary of a lack of humanity, but this is not true: in recent years Hungary has provided protection to all those who were entitled to it, and is also doing so now.

However, he added, the country is not able to receive tens and hundreds of thousands of migrants.

Referring to the organisations’ statement, which claims that Hungary presents migrants as terrorists, the Minister said that this is also not true: “We have never said that all migrants are terrorists. We are saying that the uncontrolled influx of migrants increases the threat of terrorism in Europe”.

Talking about the call from the CoE and the UNHCR for Hungary to help in enabling these people start a new life in Europe, Mr. Szijjártó said that this is the greatest misconception of the migration crisis.

Hungary’s task is not to make it possible for millions – or even tens of millions – of migrants to start a new life in Europe, but to help them get back their former lives, and to establish dignified living conditions for them near their homelands until the conflicts are resolved, he explained.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)