According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has declared war on Viktor Orbán and Hungarian migration policy, but the Hungarian Government will “take up the gauntlet”, will fight this battle, and will not allow a single illegal immigrant into Hungary.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the Foreign Minister reacted to the fact that Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein confirmed that he regards Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as racist and xenophobic.
“Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian Government are in the way of Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein”, Mr. Szijjártó said, adding: “We will take up the gauntlet” and we will fight this battle against the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights no matter what ridiculous accusations he makes against us in the upcoming period; we will not allow a single illegal immigrant into Hungary.
“Hungary is standing on the foundations of sovereignty and demanding the preservation of our right exclusively decide who we allow into our country and who we will not. Nobody can order us to be diverse, and we strongly reject the fact that anyone should call us racists as a result”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade added.
“We can see where parallel societies lead; we see the dangers, the mess and the disorder that parallel societies cause. In contrast, we regard order and security as values”, he added.
Mr. Szijjártó said that in his opinion Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has behaved in a manner that is unworthy of his position, because “an international official with an excellent salary that is paid for by contributions from member states” cannot speak in this way, and cannot declare war on a democratically elected Prime Minister. Mr. Szijjártó said he maintains his previous standpoint according to which the High Commissioner should resign.
“Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein is an extremely pro-immigration official who wants to have migration acknowledged as a fundamental human right, and wants to bring migrants into Europe. In contrast, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian Government have made it clear that they regard migration as a source of danger that not only can be stopped, but must be stopped”, the Foreign Minister said.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, there is dispute over the question of whether a diverse and multicultural society in itself constitutes a value, and whether it is superior to a uniform, homogeneous society, and the Hungarian Government’s answer to this question is no.
“We Hungarians, who have remained unchanged in the Carpathian Basin for 1100 years, want to remain here and remain the way we are, and nobody can take away our right to make such a decision”, he added.
He noted that he felt it was pathetic and “unmanly” of the High Commissioner to have left the human rights council chamber after reading his statement on Tuesday. He also objected to the fact that he has received no reply to the letter he sent the High Commissioner as Foreign Minister, only a press statement was released.
Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that he will be representing the Hungarian Government in New York next Monday at the debate on the UN’s global migration package (Compact for Migration), and will once again be making it absolutely clear that Hungary is not prepared to move an inch with regard to its sovereignty and security.
In reply to a question concerning what will happen if the High Commissioner does not resign, Mr. Szijjártó said he harbours no illusions and believes we must prepare for a drawn-out battle in view of the fact that the debate on the global migration package will continue until December.
With regard to a question concerning the fact that in September 2015 Viktor Orbán had argued in favour of the introduction of global quotas in the UN, but government communication is now making claims to the opposite, the Foreign Minister said: at the time our position was already that the issue of migration cannot be just a European problem, but that the whole world must deal with this issue. According to Mr. Szijjártó this does not mean resettlement quotas, because the solution to the problem of migration isn’t “let’s bring people to where there is no trouble, but that we find a solution that ensures that they do not set out”.
In reply to a question on the video about Vienna by Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár, Mr. Szijjártó said he hadn’t seen the video, but that the children being schooled in Vienna include a huge ratio of immigrants, and the question is whether we would like something similar in Budapest or in any other Hungarian city, adding that he wouldn’t like Hungarian society to be transformed in a similar manner to what is currently happening in Austria and Vienna.
With regard to a comment according to which Vienna is one of the world’s three most liveable cities, and that according to the Government of the Central Bank, György Matolcsy, Hungary would like to catch up to Austria by 2050, Mr. Szijjártó said people shouldn’t “confuse chalk and cheese”, because although Austria is undoubtedly more highly developed economically than Hungary, hopefully nobody is claiming that this is thanks to the fact that many illegal immigrants and young Muslims have arrived in Austria in recent years.
(MTI)
