The EU Commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, has said that it is the legal and moral obligation of the member states of the European Union to participate in the EU mechanism to resettle 160,000 asylum-seekers.
In response, State Secretary Csaba Dömötör said no decision can be made on who we should accept that circumvents the Hungarians, because that would be contrary to fundamental democratic principles. Avramopoulos's proposal is tantamount to an invitation for the migrants to head toward Europe.
“The government’s standpoint is that Hungary has already contributed significantly to European solidarity by undertaking a lion’s share of border protection," Dömötör said, adding that “Brussels would also do better to concentrate on border protection instead of spreading the consequences of its own mistaken policy”.
Meanwhile, László Szabó, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said illegal immigration must be stopped outside of Europe's borders.
During a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Szabó said that the root causes of migration must be eliminated at their point of origin. For this it is vital that the European Union prioritizes responses to the state of youth, education and job creation in Africa.
Szabó added that in Monday’s meeting there were discussions surrounding EU-Africa relations, the most important aspects of which continue to be providing humanitarian assistance, development funds and responses to the migration crisis.
Within Hungary's Southward Opening strategy, the nation is paying special attention to African partners, and is contributing to the continent’s development by increasing development funds and with the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship program, Szabó added.