Hungarian Methods Utilized to Protect Borders in Caribbean + Videos

Hungary recognizes the Dominican Republic's right to build a wall on its own border, FM Szijjarto says.

Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto and the Dominican Republic's Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Alvarez in Santo Domingo, on April 18, 2024  (Photo: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto)

Hungary and the Dominican Republic both see illegal migration as a security risk, and this common position provides a good basis for the development of bilateral relations, as does the fact that neither country voted in favor of the UN migration pact. In fact, both countries are doing everything in their power to protect their borders, Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Santo Domingo on Thursday.

In a joint press conference with his Dominican counterpart Roberto Alvarez, the minister said that the world has faced three major crises over the last five years, with one threat - that of mass illegal migration - posing a serious challenge to both Hungary and the Dominican Republic, despite the more than 8,000 kilometers between them.

"The international liberal mainstream would have us believe that migration is a good thing. You could say that they are feeding this line to the world. But we who are directly confronted with its challenges know that migration is not good, but is dangerous," he warned. "We see migration as a security risk that brings organized crime, drug trafficking, an increased threat of terrorism and leads to the creation of parallel societies in Western Europe," he stated, noting that

it is important that those who see the issue realistically stand united against the liberal mainstream, which wants to convince people that migration is not a dangerous, but a positive thing.

"We also need to make clear that migration is not a human right, but that it is our human right to live in peace and security in our own country. And it must also be made clear that it is the sovereign right of every country to decide who it allows in, and that no one can take that sovereign right away from our countries," he said. Szijjarto underlined that Hungary and the Dominican Republic have entered into an alliance to protect the safety of their citizens from the dangers of illegal migration, even in the face of hypocritical international pressure.

We are proud that, like the Dominican Republic, we did not vote for the UN migration pact. We are proud that we built a fence on our border to protect Hungary from illegal migration. And of course we recognize the Dominican Republic's right to build a wall on its own border,

the foreign minister said.

"I think we have found plenty of common ground today, for example that the national interest comes first, that we expect everyone to respect our sovereignty, that migration should not be managed but stopped, and that anyone trying to impose anything to the contrary is forcing something that goes against our national interest down our throats", he said. The agreement of views on migration was a good basis for developing relations he said, calling the meeting an historic diplomatic event, as there had never before been high-level official visits between the two countries.

Even if we had tried, we could not have found a better occasion for this meeting than this year, when we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between us.

In ten years, bilateral trade has increased 9.5 -fold, and Hungary is ready to provide its advanced water management technologies to assist in addressing the challenges. "I look forward to welcoming Minister Alvarez in Budapest. He will no longer need a visa under the political consultation mechanism, we agreed on today. I look forward to training our diplomats together, and we also look forward to welcoming the first Dominican scholarship holders at universities in Hungary in September, which we also agreed upon today. I think that's not so bad for the first diplomatic visit," he concluded.

Cover photo: Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto and the Dominican Republic's Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Alvarez in Santo Domingo, on  April 18, 2024  (Photo: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto)