Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said radical changes are needed in Brussels' migration policy to protect Europe's future, international law should be respected and those that act in line with it must not be punished.
Following talks with Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares in Madrid on Tuesday, Minister Szijjártó said that Madrid would help Budapest in several areas under the arrangement of the current presidency trio of the Council of the European Union made up of Spain, Belgium and Hungary. Minister Szijjártó said Europe was currently facing some very serious challenges, such as illegal migration. Last year, the number of migrants arriving in Spain went up by 82% in 2022. At the same time, pressure was also increasing in Hungary, with 170,000 illegal border crossing attempts thwarted by the authorities last year, he added. “Taking into consideration that the threat of terrorism is more severe than ever before in Africa, and economic development cannot progress at the pace of population increase, we can expect a migratory pressure to toughen on Europe,” the foreign minister said. “If Brussels maintains its pro-migration policy, then there will be a realistic danger that Europeans lose Europe because Brussels’ migration policy attracts people to the continent,” he added.