According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, the recent decision on family supplements by the Austrian Government is unfair and unjust towards the people of Hungary.

In a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday, the Minister responded to the fact that Austria’s coalition government has issued a decision on making the family supplements payable to foreign citizens working in Austria dependent on price levels. Despite objections from the European Union, in future supplements will be linked to the price level of the country in which the children of foreign workers employed in Austria live. According to official data, the decision also affects 39 thousand Hungarian children.

With relation to this, the Foreign Minister highlighted: “Hungary’s Government always takes action against anyone who treats Hungarians unfairly and unjustly, and the recent decision by the Austrian Government is indeed unfair and unjust towards the people of Hungary”.

“Austria is one of our important partners. It is an important ally in a host of issues, but unfortunately we are in dispute with relation to this particular issue”, he stressed. “Because we cannot accept the fact that despite Hungarians conforming to all tax and contribution payment requirements in Austria they should receive lower family benefits than Austrian citizens who pay exactly the same taxes and contributions”, he explained.

“This is also a European issue”, Mr. Szijjártó said. “Hungary expects Europe’s institutions to enforce European regulations and the European treaties. If the Commission uses a common standard, it must take action against this infringement of European law”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister declared.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)