This year’s Hungarian EU presidency can provide an opportunity to promote the long-stalled enlargement towards the Western Balkans and strengthen the fight against illegal immigration, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a countryside political forum in Gyöngyös on Thursday.
In the second half of the year, the Hungarian government will be able to decide what can be put on the agenda of the Council of the European Union, which is a major opportunity regarding two issues: enlargement and migration, Szijjártó said.
On the former, he warned that the European Union is in very bad shape, its weight in the world is steadily declining both economically and politically, and the security situation has deteriorated a lot. This could be stopped with a kind of fresh impetus and energy, which could come from accession for the Western Balkan nations, he added.
Although member states are publicly in favor of enlargement, Szijjártó revealed that behind closed doors only a minority support the admission of these states, which have been waiting years for admission.
On the other hand, he said, there seemed to be a more rapid push to bring Ukraine into the community, which is now a political issue, but the problem is that both sides are completely unprepared.
Hungary has been firmly protecting its borders against illegal immigration for nine years, while Brussels has done little to assist the Hungarian government and has actually been encouraging greater migration activity through its policies, Szijjártó claimed. Meanwhile, Africa’s population will grow by 750 million in the next 20 years, and jobs, schools, and healthcare will be needed to cater to Europe’s new arrivals.
“In comparison, instead of thinking about this, the European Union is adopting a migration pact, which encourages immigration, organizes it, manages it, and the agency Frontex, which we are being offered to help protect the border, is a travel agency,” Szijjártó said.
“Well, I think we have to be tough on these two issues to push the enlargement of the European Union forward and to prevent illegal migration as much as possible,” he added.
