We are to expect an ongoing and significant increase in the pressure of immigration affecting the European Union due to the intensification of the crises prevailing in the Middle East, Péter Szijjártó warned on Monday in Brussels, after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of EU Member States.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade pointed out at his press conference: the attendees of the meeting agreed that the crises that are ongoing in the vicinity of Southern-Europe appear to be intensifying. As he said, it is important to see that the humanitarian situation has not improved; 6.5 million internal refugees are recorded in Syria, and more than three million in Iraq. The number of people in need of humanitarian aid exceeds 13 million in Syria alone.

In this context, Mr Szijjártó welcomed the Syria Donors Conference to be held in London in February, and said that Hungary is preparing to make a generous health care donation. He added: the Government takes the view that the biggest help is if refugees are able to stay at home or in the vicinity of their homes.

Mr Szijjártó argued that it is dangerous if Europe remains a captive of political correctness because, in his view, the truth must be told: „we must protect ourselves from the southerly direction because at present the European Union is defenceless at its southern borders”.

The politician stressed that if Athens continues to fail to meet its obligations, the EU must have a plan for the event that the southern border of the Schengen zone (which has no internal border controls) is relocated to the northern border of Greece.

As he said, this is also why they had talks with the Macedonian Foreign Minister at the informal working breakfast held as part of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of EU Member States. The head of Hungarian diplomacy highlighted that Macedonia has recently played a much more constructive and positive role in the reduction of the pressure of immigration which is weighing heavily upon Europe than some EU Member States.

The Monday meeting primarily focused on the situation in Syria and Iraq, but the Ministers also discussed the crises in Ukraine and Libya. The informal working breakfast was attended by the Macedonian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers, while the working lunch was attended by the head of Jordan’s diplomacy.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)