‘Absurd’ to expect Europe to take everyone in, says House Speaker in Calvinistic conference

It is “absurd” to demand that Europe should automatically take in every migrant seeking a higher standard of living just because some countries have lower living standards than Europe, House Speaker László Kövér said at a conference on migration in Balatonszárszó, western Hungary late on Thursday.

Hungary has and will continue to take in anyone in need or facing persecution, but both the Hungarian government and the Hungarian people reject the idea of granting automatic entry to people,

Kövér said in a roundtable discussion that also involved Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office, and István Bogárdi Szabó, head of the Hungarian Reformed Church’s synod, at the Gathering of Reformed People. “This approach does not contradict Christian morals,” the house speaker added.

The international community, Europe and the European Union have a responsibility in how they manage and resolve the problems fuelling mass migration in other parts of the world, he said, adding that these issues should be debated at international forums rather than at a national level.

International forums “shouldn’t be busy with” forcing nation states to accept mass migration, but rather with organising international operations and schemes allowing the improvement of living standards in countries that millions are fleeing, Kover said.

Gulyás said every state’s primary responsibility was for its own citizens. “Others should be helped without endangering our own society,” he said.