Hungary will remain in the UN’s migrant package talks and will make a push to influence the draft document in a meaningful way, the government office chief has announced.
János Lázár said Hungary’s foreign minister has been given a mandate to propose amendments to the five areas the Hungarian government finds problematic and to enforce Hungary’s position in the document.
During the government’s weekly press conference, Lázár rejected the UN’s position that migration has a positive effect on the economy and that it is a useful, favorable and unstoppable process.
Lázár also raised concerns over the draft document not distinguishing between political, economic, legal and illegal migrants. He also objected to proposals under which “economic migrants should be ensured safe and regulated routes” and criticized the UN for suggesting that “accommodation and jobs should be granted to each immigrant”.
He added that plans to “remove legal or physical barriers and open up borders” cannot be accepted, adding that “making migration organized, continuous, and legitimate” is against Hungary’s interests. “That would be equal to extending an invitation to 60 million people in Africa, who would then be entitled to social benefits and jobs,” he argued.
Lázár also pointed out that there were “a dozen” EU member states that did not accept the UN’s package, and suggested that Hungary could find several allies both within and outside the community to support its position.