“In addition to the political risk, the migration crisis also poses a serious economic risk, because the crisis and the lack of a joint European response to it is endangering the Schengen Area, which if it were to collapse would be a ‘coup de grace’ for Europe from an economic perspective”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said.

In a statement to the press following a meeting with German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin, Mr. Szijjártó stressed: Hungary and Germany agree that we must do everything possible to protect the Schengen Area. According to the most conservative estimates, the collapse of the Schengen Area would reduce the European Union’s economic performance by at least 15-20 percent, he emphasised.

“German industry provides the backbone of the European economy”, and its supply system is built on the openness of the Schengen Area and the lack of border controls within the zone, he pointed out. This is “one of the most important competitive factors of German industry and if it is lost a significant part of Germany’s industrial competitiveness will also be lost, which would also have tragic consequences for the Hungarian economy”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.

All regulations concerning the operation of the Schengen Area must be upheld and Hungary “is in the forefront” of doing so and has introduced serious measures to conform to these obligations. We may have “attracted serious attacks as a result”, but it would seem that more and more member states are recognising the political appropriateness of these measures, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Foreign Minister and Mr. Schäuble also agreed that the unity of the continent had never been more important and accordingly “is it very important that the West-East antagonism artificially induced by many should not gain ground”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

Hungary “naturally rejects” all Western European statements that “attempt to accuse Central Europe of lacking solidarity and accordingly threaten us with withdrawing funding if necessary, which would be contrary to all European legal regulations and with the European spirit”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

On the subject of Hungarian-German economic relations, the Foreign Minister stressed that Germany is Hungary’s number one economic partner, with both bilateral trade flow and Hungarian exports to Germany breaking all previous records last year, as too did the level of foreign investment, in which German enterprises play a key role. 14 German companies realised major investment projects in Hungary last year at a total value of over half a billion euros and leading to the creation of 4 thousand new jobs, Mr. Szijjártó told the press.

The success of the two countries is certainly linked from an economic perspective; “the more successful the German economy, the more successful the Hungarian economy is too”, he stressed, adding that this is why he had begun his visit to Berlin by meeting the Minister of Finance and why he would also be meeting with the heads of the largest German companies operating in Hungary.

(MTI; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)