Zsolt Németh, the head of the foreign affairs committee, held talks with his counterparts from other EU countries at a conference which was attended by Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign and security policy chief, and the foreign minister of current EU president Slovakia as well.

A major focus of the two-day conference was the global strategy on foreign and security policy for a stronger Europe adopted in the summer by the Council of Europe, Németh told MTI. He said he gave his partners an outline of the Hungarian position that one of the most important tasks for the EU is setting up its own army, on which he said the committee heads and Mogherini agreed.

The EU foreign policy chief pledged to put forward a defence plan this year which would set a timetable for setting up a common European army, Németh said. Another important topic of the meeting was migration and the EU’s quota scheme which the Slovak foreign minister called “inhumane,” Németh said.

He said Miroslav Lajčák proposed designing a “sustainable migration policy” instead. Hungary’s Oct. 2 ballot is in that regard “rather timely” as it can “give the EU an orientation” in making a decision, Németh said, arguing that the quota system is “an inappropriate tool” for a sustainable migration policy.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Biró István