The Hungarians have not changed: they are the same people who welcomed the East German refugees 25 years ago and at the onset of the Balkans war were the first to help people fleeing the disintegrating Yugoslavia, Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog said on Wednesday during a political talk show on German national television channel ARD.

Balog said Hungarians haven’t changed, adding that their attitude towards the current crisis and their concerns with regard to maintaining the “cultural balance” cannot be understood without knowledge of Eastern European history.

With relation to the debate concerning the reception of Muslim people, Balog said on ARD’s Anne Will programme that taking in political refugees regardless of their race or religion is a legal and moral obligation. Hungary has done its duty by taking in thousands of Muslim refugees in the past few years.

At the same time, one must respect a nation’s desire to keep historical and cultural achievements intact within its national borders and Hungary only wishes to exercise this right, Balog said.

The crisis is not a Hungarian problem but a European problem, and while Hungary may be using “stricter” measures to contribute to a solution, it does so in full compliance of EU and international laws, he said.

Mr. Balog said that a distinction must be made between the persecuted and those who are entering the European Union in the hope of a better life, and every member state should be allowed to decide freely whether it wishes to take in people from the latter group or would prefer to solve its workforce and demographic problems through other means.

Speaking about the events of the past few months, he said that Hungary has been “overrun” by 200,000 people and “signals” from certain European capitals only served to increase the “chaos”, as a result of which it became impossible to perform the required asylum proceedings in the case of all refugees, as most of them refused to be registered and left. 95 percent of those asked expressed their desire to move on from Hungary, he said.

With relation to events at the Röszke border crossing station at Hungary’s border with Serbia on Wednesday, Balog said “We didn’t attack these people; they attempted something that is illegal in both Hungary and Europe”.

Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said that Hungary’s biggest mistake in handling the refugee situation was not asking for the EU’s assistance. He said that while the problem was not of Hungary’s making, had the problems been handled with EU assistance, Hungary’s media image would be different.

German Minister of Interior Thomas de Maiziere said that despite all criticism, he will never forget Hungary’s contribution to the reunification of Germany.

Protecting national borders is a legitimate concern but care must be taken to apply suitable “magnitude, methods, means and proportionality”, and this has not been the case, he added

Hungary has been offered assistance both in public and through less public channels to prevent criticism regarding refugee stations, but the Hungarian party did not take up these offers, he continued.

At the same time, it is clear that the problems that triggered the refugee crisis did not arise in Hungary, Mr. de Maiziere said.

Heribert Prantl, domestic affairs editor of the German liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung was of the opinion that the Hungarian Government was clearly in breach of international law, the Geneva Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Katrin Göring-Eckardt, faction leader of the German opposition Green Party in the Bundestag said that the wave of refugees could bring about more fundamental changes in Germany than reunification had, adding that it was up to the national community whether this change would be beneficial.

(Ministry of Human Capacities)