Szijjártó calls EU proposal ‘blackmail’

EU

Photo by kormany.hu/Gergely Botár

Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called the European Union’s proposal to fine EU members who refuse to accept refugees under the quota plan “blackmail”, in an interview published in Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet today.

(kormany.hu/Gergely Botár)

“The proposal goes against common sense, European regulations, and also the interests of Europe,” the foreign minister said commenting on the EUʼs plans to make members pay HUF 78 million for each rejected refugee, according to Magyar Nemzet. “It is senseless and unacceptable that the EU is working on bringing more and more illegal immigrants into Europe,” the minister added. 

Asking to comment on Minister for Foreign Affairs in Luxemburg, Jean Asselborn’s remarks that the EU could die if questions related to the EU are handled through referendums, Szijjártó reportedly said: “If the EU dies of anything it would be hypocrisy”. Szijjártó maintained that Western politicians insist on democracy, but “when a government asks for the opinions of the people in an important question, then the most democratic tool, the referendum is being questioned”. Szijjártó deemed the EUʼs practice a “double standard, hypocritical and two-faced”, according to Magyar Nemzet.

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