Szijjártó rejects German minister’s “attack” on Hungary

Budapest (MTI) – Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said that German Justice Minister Heiko Maas had launched a “harsh and baseless attack” on Hungary in an interview published in the Saturday issue of the German weekly Der Spiegel.

Maas said that Hungary had even refused to give bread and water to the refugees and Prime Minister Viktor Orban had threatened them with forceful evacuation. The German minister said that many people are fleeing from war, torture and violence and Orban is unwilling to give safe haven to a single Muslim refugee.

In response, Szijjártó said that “lying and making false accusations are unworthy of a European politician”. He noted that Hungary had granted accommodation and services to 400,000 illegal migrants last year in line with the international regulations.

“We regretted to learn, however, that the illegal migrants had become increasingly aggressive, refused to cooperate with the authorities and wantonly occupied the Keleti railway station”, he said.

These people were illegal economic migrants rather than refugees, Szijjártó said, warning that potentially 30 to 35 million people living close to Europe may make up their mind to set off for this continent.

Szijjártó stressed that Hungary will not accept illegal economic migrants. “Our duty is to help these people get back their former life in their homeland rather than give them a new life in Europe,” he said.

Photo: www.erdely.ma

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters