Szijjarto: Hungary to continue rejecting migrants, regardless of EU migration pact

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Paks, in central Hungary, Peter Szijjarto said the migration pact being debated in the European Parliament “is green-lighting illegal migration”.

The pact, Szijjarto said, would expand a “Western European problem” to central Europe, “rooted in them giving up their identity, culture and the protection of their society”, and had created parallel societies and increased the threat of terrorism, the ministry said in a statement.

Hungary has been protecting the Schengen borders and the external borders of the EU for 9 years, Szijjarto said.

“Not only did the government not receive support from Brussels for that, but there is constant pressure to give up border protection,” he said.

Regarding the upgrade of the nuclear plant in the town, Szijjarto said stability was a key element of the works, “so it would be helpful if we could continue to work with the current [municipal] leadership”, he said, referring to the local elections in June.

He regretted that the EU’s approach to matters of energy were subject to a “politicised, ideological debate”. Those debates “are threatening the energy supply of European countries”, he said.

Hungary, a landlocked country without oil and gas, relies on nuclear energy to produce large quantities of cheap, reliable, safe and sustainable energy, he said.

The upgrade of the plant, led by Russian state-owned Rosatom, is progressing on schedule, according to an “agreement that is advantageous concerning the technology as well as financing”, he said. The new blocks are expected to start operation at the start of the next decade, enabling Hungary to detach itself from the “turmoil of international energy markets”.

Meanwhile, “the EU discusses weekly ways to cram a ban on Russian nuclear industry down Hungarians’ and central Europeans’ throats”.

“That would threaten our national security and economic interests. We have made it clear that we would veto any sanctions targeting nuclear cooperation with Russia,” he said.

The delivery of nuclear fuel has been uninterrupted so far, and Hungary has no intention to change suppliers, he said.