Hungary will not accept Afghan migrants without any restrictions, secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Levente Magyar, said on Monday.
Magyar reminded that in the recent past, everyone has been able to follow the complete military and political collapse in Afghanistan as the international forces led by the United States deciding to leave the country after 20 years, sparking scenes of chaos in the country’s capital of Kabul.
“When the Americans announced the withdrawal, the Hungarian government stated that this process must take place in such a way that Afghanistan cannot again become a hotbed of international terrorism and a country of mass migration,” he said, adding that, unfortunately, the operation failed to meet the expectations accepted and articulated by much of the world.
As he said, the Hungarian government is unwilling to let the Hungarian people pay for the consequences of this wrong geopolitical decision and the wrongly implemented geopolitical action.
“We do not accept the expectations, initiatives and calls for Hungary to accept without restriction anyone who wants to leave Afghanistan in these difficult days and weeks,” he said.
Magyar also spoke about the fact that Hungary still makes an exception in one case: they are seriously considering how they could help those who have worked for Hungarian teams as interpreters or in other capacities for the last 20 years.
He said they are in contact with Afghan personnel and an assessment is being made regarding how they could help them. Magyar said that Hungary is a military ally of the United States, but at the same time, due to its strength, America can do things on the global stage that no one else can.
He added that obviously the military withdrawal should not have happened in the manner it was carried out.
“What we are seeing now from Kabul and various parts of Afghanistan is frightening, and I think it could be the beginning of an era — not just for Central Asia and the Middle East, but for the whole world — in the context of both migration and international terrorism. It was certainly undesirable and perhaps even avoidable.”
According to Magyar, those who want to leave Afghanistan today can reach Turkey without any major obstacles, and “it is up to our Turkish friends to deal with this situation.” He thinks that if migrants come through Turkey, they will be at the Röszke border crossing (with Serbia) in a matter of days, so we need to prepare for a serious wave of potential migration.
“I am not afraid that Hungary’s security will be endangered,” he said, adding that nevertheless Hungary must make it clear to all its partners that it is unacceptable for such decisions to be taken by great powers, to carry out actions with catastrophic consequences in this case.
Title image: Levente Magyar, state secretary and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (MTI)
