Hungary FM: Gov't Firmly Rejects New EU Migration Pact

Neither Brussels, nor anyone else can dictate whom Hungary should allow in, the foreign minister has said.

Brüsszel, 2023. december 11. Szijjártó Péter külgazdasági és külügyminiszter az EU-tagállamok külügyminisztereinek találkozóján Brüsszelben 2023. december 11-én. MTI/AP/Virginia Mayo Fotó: Virginia Mayo

Hungary rejects in the strongest possible terms the political agreement reached by the EU's co-legislative institutions on a new migration and asylum pact, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto was quoted as saying by a ministry statement issued on Wednesday.

Responding to a question at a joint press briefing with his Slovak counterpart Juraj Blanar pertaining to Brussels' new pact, FM Szijjarto strongly criticized the agreement reached by negotiators of the European Parliament and the European Union. Asked whether Hungary will take in asylum seekers under the crisis clause of the migration pact or pay 20,000 euros per person instead, FM Szijjarto underscored that no one can force Hungary to let anyone in. 

Only those we want or allow to stay in Hungary will be able to come here,

- he said, adding that the government rejects the EU's new migration pact. FM Szijjarto also emphasized that

neither Brussels nor anyone else can dictate whom Hungary should allow to come, and that Hungarians firmly reject to be punished for this. This is Hungary, the country of Hungarians, where the Hungarian people have given us, and not the Brussels elite, a mandate to govern. So, it would be good if they could refrain from doing so, and if they made no attempts to impose on us any coercive migration measures that we cannot accept.

The Pact on Migration and Asylum has yet to be formally approved by the plenary of the European Parliament and the council of governments of the member states.

Cover photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto at the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels (Photo: MTI/AP/Virginia Mayo)