The Hungarian foreign minister has rejected remarks by Sweden’s minister for migration criticising Hungary for refusing to take back asylum-seekers from Sweden who first registered in Hungary.
Morgan Johansson told press agency TT that Sweden will summon Hungary’s ambassador to Stockholm next week over her country’s refusal to take back migrants from Sweden. In response, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has branded Mr. Johansson’s criticism “strange and unacceptable”. Mr. Szijjártó said the Hungarian government’s position concerning taking back illegal migrants remains unchanged. “We will only take back those migrants who first entered the European Union through Hungary,” the leader of the Hungarian diplomatic service insisted.
The foreign minister said Hungary will not take back any of the “hundreds of thousands” of “Middle Eastern illegal migrants” who had passed through at least one other European Union country before entering Hungary. Hungary is “among the few European countries that have observed the bloc’s rules” since the start of the migration crisis, Mr. Szijjártó claimed. “We protect our border which is also the external border of the European Union, which means that right now Hungary is also protecting Sweden,” he argued.
On Friday, 12 August, it was reported that the Swedish government has accused Hungary of breaching the Dublin agreement by rejecting to take back migrants registered in Hungary. Under the agreement, member states are able to send back asylum seekers to the EU nation which they first entered. “All countries have to follow the joint rules, otherwise they can’t be members. I will summon the Hungarian ambassador next week and convey this,” the Swedish minister said.
via hungarymatters.hu, origo.hu and thelocal.se
photo: nytimes.com