Hungary’s foreign minister has said that until there is unity and stability in Libya and the protection of its southern border is taken care of, Europe’s security is at serious risk.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that one of the main causes of migration is the severe degree of instability in some North African countries.
The minister said that Libya is fragmented, as the government there only has control over a small part of the country. The situation in Libya is made even more difficult by lack of consensus in the international community on how to stabilize the country, he added.
He said that until the protection of Libya’s southern border is taken care of, people smugglers have free reign in the area, and the longer the country remains unstable, the longer terrorist groups will be able to operate.
The minister repeated the Hungarian government’s position that the first step in resolving the migrant crisis should be to ensure the protection of the European Union‘s external borders. Hungary and several other European countries believe that it is also possible to protect Libya’s southern border, he added.
Minister Szijjártó pointed out that in December the Visegrad Group countries agreed to contribute 35 million EUR to financing a border control program in the country, with the V4 offering to carry out the program.
He said that if the EU fails to protect Libya’s southern border, the migration wave facing Europe will continue. And if it does, it will only escalate the debate on mandatory migrant quotas, he added.