According to the ministry’s announcement, after his meeting with the President of Tunisia, Kais Said, the head of the ministry reported that the upcoming Hungarian EU presidency will take place in a period full of dangers, and perhaps the most important of these is the migration pressure on the continent.
According to him, the situation is aggravated by the fact that Brussels is currently pursuing a pro-migration policy, which is bad for both Europe and North Africa, because illegal immigration poses a threat to both transit and destination states.
“In order to be able to act effectively against migration, two changes would be necessary in Brussels. First of all, the financing of NGOs that cooperate with people smugglers and transport migrants must be stopped”
he stated.
“These NGOs transport migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, collude with people smugglers and bring illegal immigrants to Europe for money. The coast guards of North African countries should be financed instead of these migrant transport NGOs.”
– he continued.
“The tens or hundreds of millions of euros from which Brussels supports NGOs could be used to modernize the coast guards of North African countries, thereby preventing human trafficking and reducing migration pressure,” he opined.
He also pointed out that Brussels should also stop its practice of giving diktats to African countries, instead relations should be put back on the ground of mutual respect.
Péter Szijjártó warned that since the population in Africa will increase by 750 million over the next twenty years, significant economic development programs are needed. In the absence of these, if Europe leaves Africa alone, it will face unmanageable humanitarian and security challenges in the coming years and decades.
“We know very well that when Europe defends itself against migration, the North African defense line plays a big role. And Tunisia has a distinguished role here,” he pointed out.
“Therefore, we call on the European Union not to interfere in Tunisia’s internal political processes, not to destabilize Tunisia, but to cooperate in the fight against migration and implement economic developments in accordance with the comprehensive partnership agreement,” he added.
