EU diplomat: "Hungarian diplomacy is running amok"

"Hungarian diplomacy is running amok and we have become its tools", an EU diplomat told German news agency DPA after Hungary was the only one to refuse to vote in favour of the common European stance in preparation to Monday's negotiations with the Arab League, German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported.

The diplomat informed the newspaper that Hungary rejected any compromise citing ideological reasons and thus isolated itself in the EU. Another diplomat confirmed to DPA that Hungary did indeed veto the common position.

The representatives of the European Union and the Arab League are meeting on Monday in preparation of the Sharm El Sheikh summit to be attended by the foreign ministers of the two groups. One of the aims of the summit is to find a way to handle the illegal migration through the Mediterranean Sea. 

Hungary refuses to accept the EU-Arab League statement because earlier, Hungary rejected the UN Global Migration Compact, to which the position made a reference.

The diplomat also said that the Hungarian government needs to clarify why making the cooperation between the EU and the Arab League more difficult is in their interests, as Hungary is one of the main proponents of stopping the migration over the Mediterranean, and that is impossible without working together with the countries of the Arab League, the diplomat added. 

On Monday in Brussels, Szijjártó said that the reason for the Hungarian veto is that the document features a reference to the Global Migration Pact, and while it contains sections about managing illegal immigration, the minister said migration is not something that should be managed and not something that can be regarded as posing no risks to security.  He said it is "time to leave the pro-migration lie of Brussels in the past, help needs to be taken where it is needed," and that the main point of cooperation for the EU and the Arab League should be the prevention of terrorists entering Europe.

Last Tuesday Szijjártó was in New York City where he had a meeting with Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah, Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs. They talked about how the cooperation between the EU and the Gulf states is of the utmost importance from economic and security perspectives as well, with the Middle-East being the main source area of migration towards Europe. 

Hungary made its opinion of the Global Compact on Immigration known earlier. Last December, Szijjártó said the UN is committing a huge mistake and likened the compact's adoption to the European Union's reaction to 2015's migration crisis, and he warned that it might lead to "dangerous processes" and newer and newer waves of migration. He said the Global Compact neglects the interests of those people and countries that just wish to "live  in their home countries calmly and peacefully just as they did in the preceding decades." 

This article is the slightly amended translation of this original article published by Index in Hungarian.