“Never during the course of modern history has the security situation in Europe been as bad as it is now, as a result of illegal immigration”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Hungarian M1 television’s Wednesday morning current affairs program.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that given the situation we must do away with the misconception that Western Europe is one of the world’s safest regions, and political statements according to which “we are not afraid” and “we will not allow the European way of life to be changed” are outdated.

“Instead, Europe should be concerned with how to restore security for the people of Europe”, he argued.

“The answer to the real question is that terrorist attacks are perpetrated by illegal immigrants and by people who may have been born in Europe, but whose parents or grandparents arrived on the continent as immigrants”, he said.

“We must also clearly speak about the fact that the social integration of the latter has been a complete failure, and parallel societies have come about in several Western European countries”, Mr. Szijjártó added.

He drew attention to the fact that the leaders of several European countries are now saying what the Hungarian Government has been saying for years, i.e. that illegal immigration must be kept outside Europe and the EU”s external borders must be protected. “Despite this, we cannot count on those who previously spoke about Hungary as if it were a ‘swear word’ will now state that we were correct”, he noted, adding that in fact that European Commission is even launching an infringement procedure against Hungary for refusing to accept illegal immigrants.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that consular services will be expanded in reaction to the fact that Hungarian citizens are being exposed to increasing dangers abroad; the current number of 200-220 consuls will be increased by a further 80.

Speaking later on Kossuth Radio’s “180 minutes” programme, the Hungarian Foreign Minister also said that during private conversations on the sidelines of Foreign Affairs Council meetings, EU colleagues often voice their agreement with the politics of the Hungarian Government. “They are somewhat jealous of the fact that in representation of the Hungarian Government I can speak out and state what others cannot, and in fact I often receive congratulatory text messages during the council meetings themselves”, said Mr. Szijjártó, according to whom European politics is being held in the shackles of political correctness, and the political elite in Brussels is often characterised by hypocrisy and political unfitness.

“What those in Brussels are good at is continuously picking on certain member states, when in fact we would all do better to talk about the security of the continent”, Mr. Szijjártó said in summary.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)