Szijjarto: Afghanistan situation threatening with new migration wave

Szijjarto spoke at a meeting of EU foreign ministers within the framework of the 76th UN General Assembly.

The minister told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that the “worse scenario” seems to be prevailing in Afghanistan. The economy is sinking into a crisis, a growing number of Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid, and terror threat is growing, he said.

All those factors point to a growing threat of illegal migration, Szijjarto said.

Meanwhile, European leaders continue to issue statements that “Afghans can interpret as an invitation”, Szijjarto said. Several member states “even want to organise resettlement forums,” he added.

“The events six years ago have shown us that the next step will be mandatory quotas, with some talk about family reunification already. Unfortunately, most EU states have not learnt from what happened in Europe in 2015 and has been happening since,” he said.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s neighbours have made it clear that Afghanistan’s problems should be solved locally, he said.

“If the EU does not change its stance, that will result in another grave wave of illegal mass migration, which we should avoid,” Szijjarto said.