The Minister, who will address the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly, pointed out that the extent and gravity of the challenges which Europe is required to face at present have been unprecedented since World War II. The challenge of migration is, perhaps, the most important problem which the world is facing today, he added.

“From our point of view, from Europe, the situation is that we are under a grave pressure of migration as unstable regions have emerged around us, in the wake of which it is a realistic scenario that 30 to 35 million people will come knocking on Europe’s doors”, he said.

The Minister told MTI that some 8 million people live off humanitarian aid in Iraq today, and another 12.5 million in Syria, while there are records of more than 12 million internal refugees in the Sub-Saharan region. There are already 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey officially, and some 4 to 5 million unofficially, and we have yet to make mention of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr Szijjártó takes the view that Europe should not be required to bear the burdens of the pressure of migration on its own as these unstable regions have come into being as a result of mistaken world political decisions in which not only Europe but other actors of world politics also played a major role.

“We therefore believe that it would be fair and honest if everyone took their share of the management of the pressure of migration. In other words, if we are to speak about quotas in the case of migration, we should speak about global quotas, world contingents. This is what we shall raise in the UN this week”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

“We sincerely hope that our proposal will be supported by countries in the largest possible numbers so that rather than Europe alone taking its share of the management of the pressure of migration, all key players of world politics – who were parties to the decisions, in the wake of which unstable regions have evolved in the vicinity of our continent – should take their share of the effort”, he added.

In addition to his speech at the General Assembly, Mr Szijjártó will also have talks with several foreign partners and members of the business community, and further will reopen Hungary’s Consulate-General in Chicago during his visit to the United States.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade will have bilateral meetings with UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, Peter Boehm, Associate Deputy Minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States within the Holy See’s Secretariat, Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Andorra, Taíb Bakus, Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erlan Abdyldaev, Kyrgyz Minister of Foreign Affairs, Charles Koffi Diby, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, and George Pataki, former Governor of New York.

The Foreign Ministers of the 28 Member States of the European Union will also meet as part of the programme of the UN, and a summit on countering the Islamic State and violent extremism will also be held which will be attended by Mr Szijjártó. The Minister will further speak as departing co-chair at the conference of Article XIV of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade