Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed the difference between mass illegal immigration and taking in refugees in accordance with the Geneva Convention in an interview published in Saturday’s edition of Hungarian daily Magyar Hírlap. “We have not allowed in a single migrant, and we will not be allowing in any migrants”, the Minister declared.

“Hungary is adhering to all international agreements, such as the protection of the external Schengen borders and the Geneva Convention. People who have received protected status have submitted a request for asylum in a lawful manner, which the Hungarian authorities have assesses in accordance with international law”, he explained. “People who have received protected status can stay here while they are under threat in their homelands, but must return home once the danger has passed”, he made it clear.

Mr. Szijjártó stressed that this has absolutely nothing at all to do with illegal immigration, “mixing the two is extremely deceitful and dishonest”, because the Geneva Convention does not apply to mass illegal immigration and it has absolutely nothing to do with resettlement quotas either”.

“Our standpoint is clear: We have not allowed in a single migrant, and we will not be allowing in any migrants, because illegal migrants cannot enter Hungary. Period. This is why we have built a border security fence, this is why we have spent a billion euros on border protection, and this is why we are against the quota”, the Minister said.

In the interview, Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that a good opportunity has arisen to rebuild Hungarian-American political relations. As he explained, two out of the three pillars of relations, economic and defence relations, have been working excellently so far, “but political relations have been working badly”. “But the United States has now appointed a Secretary of State, Wess Mitchel, who regards relations between America and Central Europe as strategically important”, he said.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister said that during his recent visit to Washington he had a long meeting with Wess Mitchel lasting several hours, during which the parties finally discussed real issues relating to foreign policy and bilateral relations. “This was the first time in the past eight years that I felt that we were being viewed fairly as an important partner, based on the foundations of mutual respect, and not like a small Central European country whose representative came to Washington to be given a lesson. This is a totally new approach”, the Minister said.

(MTI)