Foreign minister highlights Central European challenges in UN General Assembly address

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó highlighted the challenges facing central Europe in his address to the general debate of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday.

Among the challenges facing the region, the minister mentioned illegal migration, the growing threat of terrorism, the need to create a balanced form of cooperation between the East and the West as well as the protection of the rights of national minorities.

Szijjártó said Europe had not faced as many challenges as it does today since the second world war. The European Union is facing its gravest situation ever, he added. Terrorism has become a part of everyday life, he said, noting that Europe has suffered 30 major terrorist attacks since 2015 which claimed some three hundred lives.

The minister said these developments were the direct consequence of terrorist groups taking advantage of the mass influx of illegal migrants into Europe and what he said was the failure of earlier methods for social integration in western Europe which had led to the emergence of parallel societies.

Szijjártó called it shocking that after the “barbaric terrorist attacks in Europe”, the “massive violations in national and international laws and regulations” and thousands of people dying on the Mediterranean, the leaders of certain international organisations and representatives of powerful and influential countries still consider migration favourable. Szijjártó said such a position was “unacceptable” and “extremely irresponsible”.

“The position of Hungary is rather clear,” he said. “All states have their fundamental right and responsibility to guarantee security for their people”, to protect their own borders and to decide on their own who they allow to enter their territory, Szijjártó said.

He said Hungary had put in an “enormous effort” to comply with its obligations, adding that the country had so far spent some 800 million euros on protecting its borders. Hungary, by protecting its own borders, is also protecting the whole of the EU and the Schengen area, he insisted.

Szijjártó also said that as a Christian country, Hungary considered it a duty to help those in need, adding, at the same time, that this help should be provided at the point where it is needed. This is why Hungary helps Christian communities in the Middle East so that they can remain in their homeland or return after conflicts in the region end, he said.

Szijjártó also urged increased support to be provided to countries that cater for refugees near war-torn areas, such as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. He added, however, that a complete and ultimate solution for the migration crisis would be tackling its root-causes, meaning ending the armed conflicts and eliminating terrorist organisations.