“More and more people in Europe want to talk openly and directly about the migration problem and increasing numbers of people feel that the mindless state of affairs that has been in existence for months must come to an end”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday, in which he spoke about statements made during the meeting of Council of Europe Foreign Ministers in Sofia.

In his speech during the debate on the challenges facing Europe, Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that Europe has not had to face so many and such major challenges since the end of the Second World War. “The events of the past months prove that Europe was totally unprepared for the most serious challenge in its history and this has resulted in an increased terrorist threat and a significant drop in public safety”, the Minister highlighted.

Mr. Szijjártó drew attention to the fact that in the interests of preventing more deaths “Europe must finally begin to speak openly and directly and must make the decisions necessary to guarantee the safety of the people of Europe”. Illegal immigration has provided an opportunity for terrorist organisations to send their terrorists to Europe, he explained. “The is the reason why our extremely important task is to put a stop to the mindless state of affairs according to which thousands of people a day can cross the border in an out of Europe as they please”, he declared.

According to the Hungarian Foreign Minister, three steps must be taken to handle the situation. Firstly, the Council of Europe must not confuse concepts, meaning it must take into account the fact that the right to security of person is a fundamental human right, but “illegally crossing the border between safe countries is not a fundamental human right, and neither is attacking police or border control personnel who are protecting the territory of another country at the border, just as choosing at will which country someone wants to live in is similarly not a fundamental human right”.
In addition, Europe must regain its ability to protect its own borders, which is ‘”also a question of sovereignty, and the Council of Europe must refrain from criticising countries that take the necessary action to protect their borders”.

In closing, Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the fight against terrorist organisations must be stepped up, since these organisations represent “the primary reason why people are forced to flee their homes”. He highlighted the fact that Hungary is also taking part in this battle since it is one of the 23 countries that have sent soldiers to fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation. 126 Hungarian military personnel are currently on active duty in Northern Iraq, and this number will increase to 150 by the end of the year.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)