Meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg – Hungarian perspective

Luxembourg (MTI) –  Europe’s interest lies with the United States and Russia reaching an agreement on Syria as the sole route to a political resolution to the conflict, Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. 

European Union member states made it clear that only a political resolution can lead to peace in Syria and the conflict could not be solved militarily, he said.

In a declaration issued at the meeting, the importance of fighting terrorist organisations in Syria and punishing crimes against religious groups was made at Hungary’s behest, he said.

Regarding the clause on migration in the European defence and security chapter of the EU’s global strategy, Hungary urged the council of ministers not to support it.

Hungary’s view is that migration is not the answer to either the EU’s demographic or labour shortage challenges, the minister said, insisting that border protection should be the bloc’s top priority. The EU must first be capable of protecting itself before dealing with anything else, Szijjártó said. Hungary has already demonstrated how this should be done, he added.