Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has noted that the World Bank has highlighted how a food crisis looms over some 400 million people in the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia, “countries that are already sources of migration or are avoiding that fate with great efforts.”
On the sidelines of a European Union foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg, the minister said that while Hungary currently produces “approximately” double the food consumed in the country, the government will need to take further steps to protect Hungarians from the crisis. The price caps introduced on basic foods earlier this year will have to be maintained to keep inflation in check, he said. At the same time, Hungary will also have to maintain and strengthen border protection elsewhere to thwart people smugglers and migrants arriving on the Western Balkans route, he said. Responding to a question, Minister Szijjártó said Hungary had seen no obstructions in gas and crude deliveries, and the gas reservoirs are being filled according to plan. Meanwhile, he called on the European Commission to “pull itself together and come up with a credible and realistic schedule on expanding the transport capacity through Croatia,” he said.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter