Szabolcs Takács, State Secretary for EU Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office had consultations in Valletta on Tuesday regarding the priorities of Malta which will assume the Presidency of the European Union next January.

As he told the Hungarian News Agency MTI by telephone, several major tasks will await the island state. The most important of these is the containment of illegal immigration, but the launch of Britain’s exit procedure, too, is likely to fall on the period of Malta’s EU Presidency, as will the sixtieth anniversary of the effective coming into being of the European Union, that is, the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and the organisation of the related events.

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Due to the so-called Mediterranean route of illegal migration, the issue of immigrants is the most important affair for Malta. The parties agreed that migration must be detained outside the borders of the European Union, and asylum requests must be assessed there.

Mr Takács said at the consultation that it is essential for Hungary that Malta should adopt a position on the issue which unites the Member States, rather than divides them. He stressed that the mandatory distribution of immigrants is unacceptable for Hungary. At the same time, Hungary does its utmost in order to protect the Schengen Area (without internal border controls) at its own borders.

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Hungary will provide every support for Malta with the implementation of its concepts which serve to enhance the EU’s competitiveness and defence capability, and to boost economic growth and technological development, the State Secretary said.

In anticipation of successful cooperation between the two countries, during the course of Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s visit to Hungary on the December the first, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán referred to the meeting held with his counterpart, whom he described as an old and great friend of Hungary, as highly fruitful.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)