Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in Geneva that illegal migrants and people smugglers "are not only shooting at each other but at Hungarian border guards too".
In a panel discussion of the International Organisation for Migration, the foreign minister urged the international community “to focus on removing the causes of illegal migration rather than promoting it”. Minister Szijjártó said Hungary registered a total of 275,000 illegal entry attempts last year and some 155,000 since the start of this year. He said the migrants were “extraordinarily aggressive”, adding that “finally we must make it clear that such behaviour cannot be tolerated”. Minister Szijjártó said IOM could serve as a “platform for sensible dialogue” as opposed to “the dispute in Brussels in which migration is promoted and the business model of human smuggling is encouraged”. The European Union “is in fact a magnet” for illegal migration, he said. Rather than promoting it, “we should at last address its causes” such as economic challenges, armed conflicts, problems with food and water supplies, and climate change, Minister Szijjártó said. “Where there is war, we must make peace. Where there is an economic crisis, we must launch development programmes. Where there is a food or water shortage, we must provide supplies,” he said.