Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary : Schengen cannot die

The conservative German newspaper Die Welt published an interview on Saturday with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó under the title Schengen cannot die.

The Minister highlighted in answer to the question of how the stringent protection of the borders is compatible with a stance in favour of the Schengen Area which operates without internal border controls that the Hungarian economy is 'highly open'. Therefore, the internal borders must be open, 'if Schengen dies, the open economy dies with it', Mr Szijjártó underlined. The large industrial companies operating in Hungary which came primarily from Germany work within a tightly scheduled, so-called 'just-in-time' production organisation system, and this system does not work if trucks are inspected at the border and there are queues at the border crossing stations. Logistic experts are unable to work under these circumstances, the Minister argued.

The criticisms levelled against Hungary on account of the fact that it secures its external borders, which are also the external borders of the Schengen Area, with fences are incomprehensible as persons and goods can only move freely within the Area if the external borders of the EU are properly secured, Mr Szijjártó added.

In answer to the comment that this position goes against the German Federal Government which, together with other countries, will seek to extend the temporarily reinstated border controls in February, the Minister said that he understands the German Government, and Hungary protects Europe, including Germany, through the protection of its external borders.

'Not a single illegal migrant is able to reach Germany via Hungary', Mr Szijjártó said.

If controls repeatedly become a permanent and standard procedure at the internal borders, 'we destroy Schengen and harm the economy', he added. It would be best if Germany did not seek to extend the border controls, but this would require all countries concerned 'to protect the external EU borders as we do', the Minister said.

If no one encourages the people to come, there is no need to distribute them either, he said in response to the comment that rather than the just distribution of refugees among the EU Member States, the effective protection of the external borders is the most important current issue for Hungary.

The Hungarian Government has taken the view right from the beginning that illegal immigration must be eliminated, and rather than importing problems into Europe, assistance must be taken to the places where the problems are. People must be assisted in or near their homeland so that they can live in humane circumstances until the end of the war and may return to their native land after the settlement of the conflict, Mr Szijjártó said.

In answer to the question as to why Hungary does not provide help and protection for the migrants at the Serbian-Hungarian border who are greatly suffering from the cold, he said that the question is instead why the migrants choose not to go to the Serbian reception centres in the extreme cold and why they are still waiting at the Hungarian border, despite the fact that the Government clearly indicated throughout that it does not tolerate illegal entry.

The Minister answered the suggestion in the affirmative that it is about saving human lives right now. This is why migrants should have themselves registered in Serbia and go to the reception centres, but many of them do not want to do so because they will later intend to seek asylum in another country, he added.

It is not one of the fundamental rights for masses to march through safe countries of origin and choose the country they wish to live in, he remarked.

Regarding relations with Russia, the Minister said that the Government has never really supported the sanctions, but did not veto the decision in order not to debilitate Europe's position. He underlined that no progress has been made since the introduction of the punitive sanctions, and the EU must recognise this. At the same time, quite evidently European businesses continue to maintain a steady interest in the continuation of their activities in Russia.

The sanctions are 'cynical and ineffective', they are like a boomerang: they harm the European economy. However, it is not acceptable under any circumstances that Russia violated Ukraine's territorial sovereignty, Mr Szijjártó highlighted.

In answer to the question of how to simultaneously stop Russia and ease the sanctions, the Minister said that, in the Government's view, this issue should have been discussed a long time ago, and the EU heads of state and government must finally analyse the effects of the sanctions. This would be the first step which, however, is still yet to be taken, and what is happening instead is that 'we are branded as Putin's vassal'.

In response to the comment that on another issue Europe adopted the position of Hungary and Eastern-Europe last year, and that now even the German Government admits that the closure of the Macedonian border was a major contribution to the reduction of the number of refugees, Mr Szijjártó underlined: the Government has sought right from the beginning to seal the migration route as early as possible, and the closure of the Macedonian-Greek border was unavoidable as the external EU borders were not properly protected, and to this day continue to remain insufficiently protected. We cannot, however, say that the Hungarian position in favour of the stringent protection of the borders convinced everyone in Germany, despite the fact that Germany greatly profits from the reduction in the number of asylum-seekers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

Mr Szijjártó further pointed out in the interview that the record-low unemployment rate is posing new challenges as well. Investors are now asking the question of whether there is sufficient qualified work force in the country. However, 'there is no need for migration, we still have reserves', the Minister stated.

(MTI)