Szijjártó reacted to recent remarks by German Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz, who said “Hungary is getting further and further away from the EU”.

In remarks to MTI, Szijjártó said that had Hungary not invested in border protection, “many more than 1.5 million migrants” would have come to Europe and “the vast majority would certainly have ended up in Germany”.

He added the Hungarian government had spent that sum on the border rather than on the economy, “saving Germany from further burdens”. In Vienna, Szijjártó attended a plenary of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and proposed that the organisation should deploy observers to Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region.

He argued that Hungary was concerned about Ukraine’s new education law, which curbs the rights of ethnic minorities to education in their mother tongue.

Szijjártó also proposed fortifying protections for persecuted Christians. He urged that the “monstrosities” committed against Christian communities should not go unpunished and the international community should “make a guarantee” that Christians in the Middle East can return to their homelands as soon as “the conflicts are over”.

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

MTI photo: Hungarian Foreign Ministry