“What is needed is for Europeans who have become unemployed because of the coronavirus epidemic to have jobs again”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó highlighted following a session of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday.

In a video message for Hungarian new agency MTI, the Minister said: “We can already see the major economic consequences that the global pandemic is having; hundreds and thousands of Europeans have lost their jobs”. “It is the primary duty of the EU to find solutions for the problems of Europeans who have found themselves in trouble as a result of the crisis, and to provide workplaces for them”, Mr. Szijjártó declared.

He added that he had asked the European Commission to stop voicing the importance of establishing legal migration routes and the need for African workers, because the situation has changed. “None of this is needed.  What is needed is for the people of Europe to have jobs again”, he underlined.
He explained that when the EU enters into negotiation with Africa concerning a migration agreement, it should be negotiating with relation to African people staying at home. “The conditions for this must be created and facilitated. Success requires economic programs and investment projects in Africa. Because if young, skilled professionals leave, the people who would develop and rebuild these countries will be missing. Accordingly, Hungary is continuing to call for assistance to be taken to where it is needed, instead of brining the problem here”, the Minister declared. “Stopping migration processes must finally be placed at the focal point of European Union migration policy", he stated.

With relation to talks on Libya, Mr. Szijjártó emphasised: “It says a lot about the current state of the European Union that the EU has still not spent the donation of 35 million euros provided in January 2018 by the countries of the Visegrád Group (V4), the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, for the purposes of reinforcing Libya’s border protection”. As he explained, the EU has still not been capable of using this money to purchase the boats with which the Libyan coast guard would be capable of stopping waves of migration aimed at Europe, and entering the fight against the people smuggling networks. “On Monday, the V4 was promised that three boats will be purchased that could achieve success in stopping migration from Libya”, Mr. Szijjártó added.

With relation to the situation in Belarus, the Minister reported on the fact that a decision on sanctions has still not been made, adding that he had asked the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell to facilitate the return home of Archbishop of Minsk Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)