Hungary’s foreign minister has said the security of Europe currently starts with Africa as global challenges affect both continents at the same time.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Tuesday after a meeting of African Union foreign ministers in Brussels that everyone who addressed the meeting discussed migration in addition to economic cooperation.
Minister Szijjártó said cooperation on migration should not lead to more people being encouraged to leave Africa. Rather, efforts should be made to improve living conditions there so that people are not forced to leave, he said.
The minister said it is necessary to clearly define different types and goals of cooperation, and learning from the debates about the United Nations’ Global Compact for Migration, it is necessary to establish that migration is not a basic human right.
He added that migration has “very serious security risks” not only on the target countries but also on origin countries and transit countries. Every state has the right to avoid belonging in any of these categories, he added.
Minister Szijjártó said Europe must help establish and strengthen economic, political, legal and security stability in African countries. He added that he was visiting Tunisia on Wednesday because local authorities there had requested Hungary to provide support for the strengthening of border protection capabilities.
The Hungarian government believes that stability in Northern African countries is a number one precondition for them to be able to protect their borders, he said.