The foreign minister has confirmed that Hungary will not enforce “a single passage” in the United Nations’ global migration compact.
Following talks with Antonio Vitorino, head of the International Organization for Migration IOM), in Geneva on Wednesday, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the package was contradictory to Hungary’s interests because “it encourages migration rather than seeking to stem such processes”.
Minister Szijjártó said the compact, similarly to the European Union’s mandatory quotas, would be “practically equal to an invitation”, insisting that in countries around the EU there are some 30-35 million people “whose conditions could easily motivate them to leave their homeland”.
“We are not going to pay for courses for migrants… we will not hide that mass migration will have serious security impacts and we will not provide the same services to migrants as to tax-paying Hungarians,” he said.
The minister added that Hungary could cooperate with the IOM on issues such as helping persecuted Christians to return to their homes in the Middle East or fighting against people smuggling.