According to Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, the Left is conducting irresponsible, anti-Hungary propaganda when trying to hinder the Government’s efforts to protect Hungarians from the uncontrolled entry of masses of immigrants into Hungary.
At a press conference held in Budapest on Monday, the President of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), Zsolt Semjén, said the left-wing’s behaviour was doubly irresponsible and hypocritical. Recalling the statements of former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and socialist politician László Kovács, he said that in 2004 they had opposed the dual citizenship rights of Hungarians living abroad, and today the same Left is trying to prevent measures against dangerous migrants using irresponsible, anti-Hungarian propaganda.
He emphasised that there is and can be no dispute regarding the fact that it is the obligation of every civilised country to help people who have been forced to flee their countries for economic reasons, or for political and religious reasons, to live a proper life at home.
The Hungarian Government has contributed significantly to improving the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and also in Syria, and it is providing humanitarian support with the help of state, church and civil organisation, he stressed.
He emphasised that those who been forced had to flee political, religious or ethnic persecution must be received by civilised countries based in the spirit of humanity. Their fates are often influenced by political dealings and errors, “the Arab Spring has also turned into autumn”, Mr. Semjén noted. However, in the spirit of our responsibility towards the country and the nation, we must look beyond politically correct speech, because although that may fit in with the political mainstream, it cannot face the threats that Europe and Hungary must face.
The arrival of unintegrated masses could place countries in serious difficulties, and the effects would still be felt generations later. Based on experience, we are talking about masses of people who are not only impossible to assimilate, but who also cannot be integrated and who come from cultural and religious backgrounds that are alien and in some cases even hostile to European values, and whose mentality also poses a danger to the people living here, Mr. Semjén said. He emphasised that he is in no way claiming that all of them are potential terrorists, but that there is a great danger that immigrants cannot be integrated. A further problem is that it is impossible to perform a national security check on these people, he added.
In response to a question, the Deputy Prime Minister said he is not against Hungary receiving economic migrants, but only those who would benefit the country.
Assimilation is not a must, but integration is. Immigrants must respected fact that this country has a Christian background, he emphasised.
Mr. Semjén noted that immigration is typical of the kind of issue in which a consensus must be reached. He also expressed his hope that such an agreement will soon be established and that the Left will soon realise that it is barking up the wrong tree, just like it did in 2004. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Left believes that if many people with traditions and beliefs that differ from our Christian culture enter the country from outside of Europe and the majority of them end up living on benefits, they will become left-wing voters.
In Mr Semjén’s view, the billboard campaign is being exaggerated; it is an episode, a communications tool, but the issue is more important and complex. The billboards state that those who come here must respect our laws and our culture, and they are addressed to people who enter the country illegally. People who prove why they are political or religious refugees must have their cases judged fairly. Reacting to another comment, he said that there will soon be a Serbian-Hungarian government summit, a difficult task of which will be to make the Serbian party understand the importance of protecting Hungary’s southern borders.
Leader of the KDNP parliamentary group Péter Harrach said that the Government has a dual responsibility: towards European culture and Hungarian citizens, and towards helping those in need. Allowing unlimited immigration endangers European culture and the safety of citizens, and this cannot be the right solution, he declared.
He noted that the number of immigrants entering the country this year, totalling 50 thousand so far, has already surpassed the total for the whole of last year. Furthermore, the prognosis is that this number will increase radically due to immigrants being sent back from Germany and Austria, he added, emphasising that the people of Hungary are incapable of receiving such a huge number of immigrants.
As Christians, we must help those in need, but this does not necessarily have to occur within the borders of Hungary, Mr. Harrach said, who cited helping the homeless as an example. When we help the homeless, we don’t do it by taking them into our homes, he said.
((MTI/kormany.hu))
