“In addition to its content, the statement by António Guterres also raises major legitimacy problems”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Kossuth Radio’s “Sunday Papers” morning show.

The Minister pointed out that in his statement, the UN Secretary General called migration an opportunity, in view of the fact that it reinforces economic growth, reduces inequalities and connects different societies.

In reaction, Mr. Szijjártó said that this raises legitimacy problems because the global organisation is currently in the process of debating the resolutions that would allow for the future handling of migration.

“We regard it as unacceptable that the Secretary General is pre-empting the results of such a debate and to all intents and purposes announcing the result, while he is otherwise fully aware of the fact that he in no way enjoys the unanimous backing of member states on this issue”, he stressed. “The question therefore arises whether there is any point in taking part in these negotiations at all”, he added.

“If we feel that our opinion on this extremely important matters continues to be ignored in future, then I will be recommending that the Government considers reviewing whether there is any point in Hungary taking part in these negotiations”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that instead of promoting and organising migration, the Hungarian Government would like it to be prevented and stopped, and this is also the standpoint that it is putting forward in the United Nations.

The Minister said the situation was serious, not least because the UN wants to base the aforementioned negotiations on a political statement previously adopted by the UN General Assembly that includes, amongst others, the fact that countries should not criminalise “the unauthorised crossing of borders”, and which would also like to ease the regulations on admitting migrants.

According to the Hungarian Foreign Minister, the UN document in question includes the fact that countries that lie far away from migration routes must also admit asylum-seekers, as well as highlighting the role of NGOs in a positive manner.

“Hungary’s standpoint continues to be that migration is a bad thing (…) and that our primary goal is to assure the security of Hungary and the Hungarian people”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

(MTI)