“The Hungarian Government regards the Italian cabinet’s decision to open the southern Italian ports to illegal migrants to be cause for concern and dangerous”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Tuesday.

“More than enough immigrants have succeeded in getting into Europe illegally as it is, we should not let any more of them in; the borders must be protected”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.

“The Hungarian Government was the first to prove that it is in fact possible to stop the waves of migration along the land routes, and the previous Italian government, including Matteo Salvini, was the first to prove that this is also possible with relation to maritime migration routes”, the Minister recalled, adding that in his view the behaviour of the current Italian government is a huge step backward in comparison.

“The opening of the ports is dangerous, because this is usually just the first step; the next step will obviously be that they start ‘pushing for’ the mandatory resettlement quotas again”, the Minister pointed out.

“We have made it clear that we will not bow to any kind of blackmail: not from the Soros-backed NGOs, not from Western European governments, possibly, and not from Brussels. We will not be implementing any kind of mandatory resettlement quota, and just as we have done everything possible so far to prevent its introduction, we will continue to do so in future”, Mr. Szijjártó underlined.

He pointed out that the Hungarian people have decided on several occasions that they do not want illegal immigrants in their homeland. “Accordingly, in contrast to the current Italian government, we will continue to protect our borders and not allow entry to illegal immigrants”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.

“The Italian cabinet’s decision is only good for the people smugglers, in view of the fact that it may be construed as an invitation by people who are thinking about setting off for Europe and who are willing to pay thousands of dollars to people smugglers and embark on the dangerous and often deadly trip across the Mediterranean”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister noted.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, Italian Foreign Minister and head of the Five Star Movement (M5S) party Luigi di Maio rejected the Hungarian Government’s concerns about Rome’s migration decisions, explaining: “Italy has been living in a state of (migration) emergency for years, which is primarily also being caused by the indifference of European partners such as Hungary”.

(MTI)