“The security of Europe currently depends on the stability of Turkey and accordingly those who attack the latter are essentially undermining the security of the continent”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed on Wednesday in Strasbourg, where he is attending a session of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.
In a telephone interview to Hungarian news agency MTI, the Minister highlighted that the migration treaty between the European Union and Turkey had to all intents and purposes placed the security of the continent in Ankara’s hands.
As Mr. Szijjártó explained, it is clearly the “fault and responsibility of Brussels that it has put Europe in such a vulnerable position”, but given that this is the situation we call on Europe’s institutions and politicians to “not make the situation even worse and weaken Turkey’s government and President with their criticism”.
If we take into account the fact that there are currently 3 million refugees living in Turkey and a further 10 million in the war zones surrounding the country, it is clear that Europe’s position can only remain good while the Turks are capable of stemming the wave of migration, otherwise the continent “will find itself in serious trouble”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.
With relation to the attempted coup against the Turkish government in July, the Hungarian Foreign Minister stressed that Hungary had maintained its support of Turkey’s democratically elected leadership throughout. “We accept that since an attempted coup is a serious matter, the reactions to it must also be serious”, he said.
According to Hungary’s chief diplomat, we must avoid even the slightest appearance of being more worried for those who attempted the coup than we are about the fact that such an attempt to seize power could have happened in a NATO member state that is moreover in ongoing accession negotiations with the European Union. The Minster warned against “developing misconceptions according to which the EU in any way gives preference to the rights of the perpetrators of the attempted coup rather than allowing those involved to be brought to account in Turkey”.
“Given all this, Hungary does not wish to find itself in a vulnerable position such as Europe currently, and accordingly we will be reinforcing the protection of the southern border in the interests of protecting the Hungarian people”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.
The Council of Europe is an organisation that operates independently from the European Union’s system of institutions and comprises 47 member states, working primarily to facilitate the enforcement of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The decision-making body of the Council of Europe is the Committee of Ministers.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
