The foreign minister said the European Union must make it clear that the only way to enter its territory is in a lawful way, or else the migration pressure on Hungary’s and Greece’s borders will not ease.
Following talks with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that uncontrolled waves of migration posed an even greater danger than before in view of the coronavirus pandemic. On top of earlier security and cultural challenges illegal migration is now posing a serious health risk, too, he said.
Minister Szijjártó voiced regret that the EU’s new migration package “makes the same mistakes as the ones that caused a lot of trouble to Europe in recent years”. According to the pact, mandatory migrant quotas would be maintained “if under a different name”, which the Hungarian government finds unacceptable, he said.
Assisting persecuted Christians, especially in the Middle East, is a crucial, shared goal for Hungary and Greece, the minister said. Parties at the talks agreed to jointly support projects to help Christian communities in Jordan, he added. Minister Szijjártó and Dendias agreed that people smuggling gangs must be eliminated. Supporting people smuggling and illegal migration is a crime “even if committed by an NGO”, Minister Szijjártó said.