YouSaid · the spoken record

Péter Szijjártó

lines on the record: 90
first: 2015-09-24
most recent: 2021-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We have to do our best to overcome those tensions, but we will not be able to do so without more pragmatic, effective and respect-based cooperation between East and West. Based on historic experience, we Central Europeans are well aware of the significance of that.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“If we had brought them to Europe, we would have contributed to the fulfilment of the goals of terrorist organizations, one of which is to eliminate those Christian communities. We have rebuilt their churches and their houses, we have covered the operational costs of their hospitals and we have rebuilt their schools, thereby helping them to stay where their communities have been living for centuries. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of hardship and suffering in the past year and a half, but it also definitely brought about an opportunity. It has shown how interdependent we are. The successful protective measures of one country can help another to be protected as well. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic brought hope for better cooperation among the nations of the world — a world that is unfortunately full of tensions nowadays.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Instead of encouraging people to leave their homes, hit the road, take advantage of the help of smugglers — whose activities can sometimes barely be differentiated from those of so-called non-governmental organizations — and put their lives at risk, we should send help to where it is needed. We have to create circumstances that make it possible for everyone to stay where they were living before. That approach is reflected in a development programme of the Hungarian Government called Hungary Helps, through which we help Christian communities that suffer from persecution. With the help of $70 million provided to such programmes, we have ensured that 250,000 Christians in the Middle East, Africa and Asia were able to either return to their homes or stay there.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We will reject any kind of quota system of distribution in any framework. After 2015, everyone must understand that migratory flows constitute significant risks, and on many occasions are dangerous. I remember 2018, when we debated the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. There were five countries, including my own, that voted against it. At the time, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration described migration as though it had only positive aspects and broad benefits. Now, three years later, I think everyone can admit that approach has totally failed.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“That approach by neighbouring countries should definitely be followed. Hungary has already fulfilled its moral duty. We have evacuated all Afghans who helped and assisted our troops during their stay in Afghanistan in the framework of the international mission. About 400 Afghans, including their family members, are now in Hungary, and we will definitely take care of them. But there is a full stop at the end of the sentence. We will not receive anyone else. We will protect our border. We will withstand the pressure. And we will continue to stick to our own right to make our own decisions on whom we will allow to enter the territory of our country and whom we are ready to live with. Back in 2015, we rejected the introduction of an obligatory quota for the distribution of migrants, and we will do the same now.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Many terrorists have taken advantage of the chance to hide among migrants. Parallel societies have been created in some European countries. Programmes for social integration have failed. Some parts of big European capitals became no-go zones, and wars were launched among gangs. A loud minority started to oppress the silent majority. It is no wonder that European leaders now say that they do not want to commit the same mistakes that were made back in 2015. However, they are making the same kinds of decisions and the same kinds of statements. When they encourage Afghans to leave their homeland, it leaves the position of neighbouring countries that know the situation best totally out of consideration. What do those neighbouring countries say? They say that the challenges in Afghanistan must be solved in Afghanistan.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“But now the main duty is to mitigate the damage. We have to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist organizations once again. We have to prevent additional migratory flows coming from Afghanistan, because such flows imply a direct security threat for both Afghanistan’s neighbours and the entire European continent. We have to strengthen the global fight the use of terrorism. In that connection, the United Nations should play an important role, but it will not be able to do so as long as the finances of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism are not part of the regular budget. In Europe, everyone remembers what happened in 2015. After the irresponsible statements by some political leaders, millions of migrants hit the road towards Europe. The impact and the consequences are clear.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The more serious the health- and economic-related impacts of COVID-19 there are, the more people will take to the road — the more people will migrate and the more they will contribute to migratory flows, further accelerating the spread of the virus. Nowadays migration constitutes not only already well-known cultural, civilizational and security risks, but it also constitutes very serious health-care risks as well. That is one of the many reasons why we have to speak about Afghanistan in this Hall yet again. We do have to admit, unfortunately, that, after 20 years in Afghanistan, the international community had a big failure in the country. At some point in future, we will have to analyse — once and for all — the mistakes that were committed and the poor decisions that were made in this regard.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Parents who were not able to go to work had to work from home, and their children had to take part in digital education, resulting in a vulnerable and unexperienced group of users of the digital space. This sort of group is a perfect target for cybercrime. That is why we urge putting together strict international regulations that can protect our children and our families from the spread of extremist ideologies and sexual propaganda on the Internet and from cyberbullying. We must be aware that if we are not able to tackle the challenge of COVID-19, we will be unable to address even more serious challenges in future. If we cannot ensure vaccination for everybody on the spot and if we cannot tackle economic challenges, then there will be further massive migratory waves. Together, the pandemic and migration construct a kind of vicious circle.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“People who work create value and create economic performance. During a year and half of pandemic, we had to think in particular about families with children, because parents in those contexts have had to bear a double burden. They had to go to work in order to keep the country running, but they also had to look after their kids, whose schools and kindergartens were closed. As a result, in Hungary, we made a decision. Since the growth of our national economy will reach 5.5 per cent at the end of the year, we will fully reimburse the personal income tax paid by families who are raising children throughout 2021. I would now like to draw the Assembly’s attention to another consequence of COVID-19. A large part of our life has been pushed into the digital space.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The pandemic has unfortunately had serious economic consequences. In the last year and a half year, 114 million people have lost their jobs. The global flow of direct investment has decreased by 42 per cent, and there was a 5.3 per cent reversal when it comes to the volume of global trade. All these phenomena resulted in the establishment of a new global economic order. Today, our most important duty is to save jobs. We must replace as many jobs as possible — at least the jobs that were lost — and we must create new ones. In the meantime, we have to ensure that people make a living from work and not from social assistance. Social assistance has put people in an indefensible position: it makes people vulnerable, and it brings States to the brink of insolvency. In contrast, work brings dignity and a predictable future.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In order to be able to complete a successful protection action, we have to make sure that vaccine is going to be produced in the greatest number of possible locations around the world, and that the greatest amount of vaccine is produced. Vaccine is a tool to save the lives of people. It is not an ideological tool. Nor is it a political matter. Saving people’s lives must be neither ideological nor political. That is why we urge the regulators and the international, regional and national authorities to carry out purely professional and fact-based procedures when they are approving different types of vaccines. We urge them to leave political aspects completely out of the calculation. It has also become obvious that the pandemic constitutes not only a health-care crisis, but an economic crisis as well.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Nevertheless, I have to commend the fantastic achievement of the global research community, which was able to find the answer within a year and half, the answer to this global challenge being vaccination. To put it more directly, vaccination is the only and exclusive answer because only vaccination can protect us. We must express our appreciation, gratitude and respect to all the doctors, researchers and volunteers who have taken part in those projects at the end of which a vaccine was created. The pandemic is an attack on the entire globe, an attack on all nations and all citizens. Since the attack is global, the defence has to be global as well, which means that we have to enable ourselves to vaccinate — to give vaccine to — everybody. This is a matter of capacity.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“First of all, let me start by congratulating my friend and colleague Abdulla Shahid on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. I wish him the best of luck. He will be leading the Assembly through tough times, but he can be assured of Hungary’s full support. It is great to meet again in person in the General Assembly and that this general debate is not taking place in a virtual format. This is the essence of diplomacy: we meet each other, we talk to each other, and we do our best to overcome our challenges. This last year and a half were full of challenges, troubles and problems. The situation has improved a bit, but we do have to be aware that the crisis is not yet over. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has created a very uncertain situation.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Capacity-building is of the utmost importance, which is why we are providing 4,870 scholarships to students from least developed countries in Asia, Africa and South America to gain the competitive knowledge and skills that contribute to strengthening their own countries when they return home. We do this because our top priority must be to help all people to enjoy a safe and secure life in their home countries. This is what international law requires and what responsible behaviour dictates.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are covering the medical costs in the largest Christian hospitals in Syria. We have been rebuilding schools. Through these efforts, we have helped more than 50,000 people to be able to remain in their home country or to return as soon as possible. Through this programme of helping Christian communities, we wish to draw the attention of the international community to the fact that Christianity is the most persecuted religion the world over. In order to help those countries currently unable to retain their populations, this year, we have increased our financial support to the least developed countries sevenfold, to $29 million, and, this year, we have increased our financial support to Africa fivefold, to $25 million dollars. I believe it is crucial for young people to be involved in these efforts.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We must also dispel another suggestion going around here, stating that multicultural societies are by definition better than homogeneous societies. We Hungarians do not feel less valuable just because we are not a multicultural society. We should leave it up to sovereign nations to decide how they want to live their lives. Let us provide help where it is needed and avoid causing problems where there are none. This is our principle. We must help people stay in their home countries with human dignity and help those having fled to return to their homes as soon as possible because this is what international law prescribes. We Hungarians have spent $40 million to help Christian communities in the Middle East — in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. We have rebuilt thousands of demolished houses and dozens of razed churches.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We believe there is a fourth category: there are countries, such as Hungary, that do not wish to be a country of origin, transit or destination. And we have the right to so decide. We urge the United Nations to stop portraying migration as the best development ever for humankind. We do not look at migration as the best instrument for addressing demographic and labour-market challenges. Let us leave it up to Member States to make sovereign decisions in this domain. We in Hungary support our families and continuously modernize education instead of encouraging migration. And this approach works. The proof is that we are now number one in the European Union in terms of gross domestic product growth and we have reached full employment.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We expect the United Nations to consider the violation of a border as a serious criminal offence that should be prevented and punished instead of promoted and encouraged. We expect the United Nations to stop portraying NGOs as legitimate representatives of nations because they are not. Elected politicians represent their nations; Governments, not NGOs, are authorized by their peoples to act. I myself have never seen any NGO run in an election. In fact, it is to Governments and elected officials that people entrust authority. That is why Governments and elected politicians have the right to speak on behalf of nations and on behalf of peoples. We read the Global Compact for Migration to provide that all countries must in future become either a country of origin, a country of transit or a country of destination. We reject this notion.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We respect our obligations as a State to protect our citizens and guarantee them a safe and secure life, which is why we strictly and steadfastly protect our borders, allowing no illegal trespassing. The only way to come to Europe should be the legal way. The only way to come to Hungary is the legal way. We reject the approach that we should allow people to violate our borders. Why should we let people violate our borders? What humanitarian or legal reason would impel us to allow anybody to violate a border between two safe and peaceful countries? Indeed, border protection is a national security issue, and the United Nations should not act against the national security interests of any Member State. Unfortunately, the United Nations promotes the idea of allowing people to violate borders between peaceful countries.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The United Nations should not encourage migratory waves; rather it should play a leading role in resolving conflicts, in helping countries to develop, in helping African countries to build capacity, because Africa can be the continent of the future, but only if we build capacities to keep people at home under appropriate circumstances. The United Nations should help those who have fled to return home as soon as possible. We should carry out reconstruction projects. We should guarantee the physical and legal security of those who had to flee and would like to return to their homes. We should help countries to protect themselves from negative shocks and security risks. The United Nations should also help countries to ensure the security and safety of their own citizens. That is exactly what Hungary has been doing.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“This is very similar to what we experienced first-hand in Hungary back in 2015, when 400,000 illegal migrants marched through the heart of the country, behaving in a very aggressive way, attacking our police, occupying public areas and blocking traffic on railway lines and highways. The countries of destination lose as well. And the people themselves lose because they put their lives at risk. If we look once again at how many people have died in the Mediterranean because of this very irresponsible policy being interpreted as an invitation. Everybody therefore loses. Everybody takes serious risks — except for the smugglers and terrorists organizations. I believe the United Nations should not do this.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The answer is obvious: smugglers and organized criminal groups definitely benefit from all of this because they earn millions; and terrorist organizations benefit, too, because massive uncontrolled flows of migrants give terrorist organizations the chance to send their fighters all over the world. The second part of this question is, who loses under such policies? Without a doubt, countries of origin lose, because if people are going far away from countries of origin, they will never return. The question then becomes, who will reconstruct and rebuild those countries? Transit also countries lose. If we look at the Western Balkans, we see migrants occupying public areas. They behave aggressively. In some schools, teachers were not able to begin teaching their classes in September.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“If we look at the migration situation in South-Eastern Europe today, it is comparable to that of 2015. Many countries, international organizations and, of course, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) inspire people in need to go to Europe. These people get the inspiration to pay thousands of dollars to smugglers. These people get the inspiration to board derelict vessels. And they get the inspiration to expect NGOs to come and take them illegally to Europe. Now, another question can be raised, I suppose, and with very good reason: who benefits from this?”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Hungarians have made very clear decisions, on multiple occasions: that we do not want to receive illegal migrants, that we reject all external pressure in this regard, and that we preserve our right to make our own decisions as to whom to allow to enter the territory of our country and whom we do not allow. It is our sole prerogative to decide with whom we would and would not like to live in our country. As this is the express will of the Hungarian people, it is therefore our national interest. For us, fulfilling our national interest is our number one duty. Unfortunately, based on recent developments in the European Union — opening ports to illegal migrants and debating yet again obligatory quotas for the resettlement of migrants — we must strengthen our efforts to protect our people and security.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are proud to be a nation with a strong Christian heritage. We are proud of Christianity’s role in creating and maintaining our statehood. And we are proud to be true patriots, for whom Hungary comes first and for whom the national interest serves as a compass. We base our foreign policy strategy on a principle called mutual respect. We respect our partners and their history, heritage and the decisions of their citizens. And we expect the same from our partners: that they respect our sovereignty and our specificities, which are based on our very rich history. And we expect our partners to respect the right of Hungarians to take decisions about their own country and its future.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The more than 30 significant terrorist attacks that have been committed in Europe by persons with a migratory background in recent years are the result of the hypocritical, ideologically motivated policy promulgated by Brussels. This policy puts pressures countries to get rid of national identity and cultural, religious and historic heritage in order to weaken member States and finally create a united States of Europe. But this is something that we reject. We want the European Union to be strong again, but this can happen only when its member States themselves are strong. We are proud that Hungary is a strong country again. We are proud that we have been able to preserve Hungary as a Hungarian country. We are proud of our history. We are proud to be a 1,019-year- old State, among the oldest in Europe.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I must tell the Assembly that we reject such attempts and urge all United Nations institutions to stop such attempts: stop referring to the Compact in United Nations documents and stop pushing the Compact through in a surreptitious way. I also want to make it clear that we will in future reject all United Nations declarations, documents and resolutions containing any reference to the Global Compact for Migration in whole or in part. Let us consider what has happened in Europe in recent years. Due to the irresponsible and harmful migration policy of Brussels, more than 1 million illegal migrants entered the territory of Europe. Many people died in the Mediterranean. Perilous societies have arisen in Western Europe, where a noisy minority continuously and increasingly puts pressure on the silent majority. Terrorist threats have increased.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“These six votes against prevented the adoption by unanimity of resolution 73/195, and we made it clear then that the Global Compact was the most dangerous document ever created in the United Nations. The past year has, unfortunately, proved us right. During the debate, some tricks were played. There were false explanations and references given, statements that it would not be a legally binding document although the words “commit” and “commitment” appear in the text 80 times. Over the past year, many attempts have been made here to push the Global Compact for Migration through, part by part, chapter by chapter. Many documents on our agenda contain references to the Compact, sometimes in a surreptitious way, sometimes in an open way. Is this how the Compact is supposed to be made part of international law?”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Does it protect their rights? The answer is, unfortunately, no — a resounding no. Therefore, instead of protecting the actual fundamental human rights of people, the Global Compact for Migration promotes migration, which is not a fundamental human right but a dangerous phenomenon that increases security risks worldwide. We find that to be unacceptable. Last year, there was an attempt here in the United Nations to celebrate the Global Compact for Migration as the best document ever concluded in the history of the United Nations. But this attempt failed. The United States, Israel, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland voted against the Compact, with Brazil later joining those States.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“One would expect the United Nations and other international organizations to promote and protect international law, to help those who respect and comply with international law and to take a stand against those who violate it. That is our expectation, especially when it comes to fundamental rights. We can and should raise the question: is migration a fundamental human right? The answer is: no, it is not. But what does the United Nations do? The United Nations promotes migration, which we consider truly disappointing. Going forward, we could raise another question: If migration is not among the fundamental human rights, then what is? The answer is the following: Everyone in the world has the right to live in peaceful, safe and secure circumstances in his or her home. Does the Global Compact for Migration say anything about these people?”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Last year, I had the honour to stand before the General Assembly (see A/73/PV.13). At that time, I argued against the then- draft global compact for migration, which was still to be adopted. What has happened since then? Last December, in this very Hall (see A/73/PV.60), the General Assembly endorsed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (resolution 73/195). Since then, increasing numbers of people have been hitting the road, and new migratory flows are being launched, posing additional security challenges to countries of origin, transit and destination. The most recent developments are frightening. It is therefore no wonder that the issue of migration again rules European and global political agendas.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I would like to take this opportunity to inform representatives that Hungary will not support the adoption of the global compact on migration because it is not in the national interest of our country. We will never give up our sovereign right, namely, that it is exclusively the Hungarian people who have the right to make a decision about the future of Hungary, our country. We will always adhere to that right of ours.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“If that is not possible, we must help them to live in a dignified manner as close to their homes as possible until they can return there. Instead of suggesting that people risk their lives by taking to the road, pay millions of euros for the services of smuggling networks and leave their homes, we should bring help to where it is needed. Hungary helps the Christian communities in the Middle East. We spend many millions of euros on reconstructing houses that have been torn down, building schools, covering the medical expenditure of hospitals and giving scholarships to youngsters in the region. Church leaders from the Middle East usually ask us not to encourage members of their communities to leave but to help them to be able to stay where their communities have lived for centuries, or at least a long time.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“For us, the security and safety of Hungary and the Hungarian people are the top priority — first and foremost, security. We continue to firmly and strictly protect our borders. We will not allow anyone to enter the territory of Hungary illegally. Instead of considering migration, we will continuously modernize our education system and help families to be able to raise more children in order to address the challenges of the labour market and demography in the meantime. We will preserve Hungary as a Hungarian country that is proud of its history and heritage. We urge the international community not to encourage further migratory waves to be launched but to stop the migratory flows now. The international community must recognize that every person has the right to live in his or her homeland in peace and security.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We Hungarians do not think that our society would be less valuable or worse than any other society that considers itself multicultural. However, in sum, the greatest problem is that although the text of the global compact on migration states that the compact places individuals at its core, unfortunately, that is not true. The truth is that the compact takes only the rights, interests and well- being of migrants into consideration and does not say anything about the already existing fundamental human rights of those who would like to live their lives in their homes in safe and secure circumstances. I would like to make it clear that Hungary bases its migration policy on common sense. We do not want to see the events of 2015 repeated in Hungary.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The international community must make it clear that the illegal crossing of borders is a serious criminal offence. We must terminate policies that either encourage or mitigate illegal border crossing and those who commit that offence. Crossing borders should be possible only with full respect for international and national regulations. The violation of such regulations must result in serious consequences. The global compact on migration also suggests that, by definition, a multicultural society is more valuable or better than a homogeneous society. Again, we strongly reject that definition and approach because it must be left up to the decision of the respective nation whether it believes that a multicultural society or a homogeneous society is more valuable.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The international community must respect the sovereign right of a country to control its own policies with regard to labour market regulations, economic policies and addressing demographic trends. The global compact on migration suggests that the border protection measures of certain countries should be judged based on human rights. We find that approach extremely dangerous and harmful. That is why we strongly reject it. We believe the contrary. We believe that the protection of borders is a national security issue and is the obligation of every single country. Let me underline the fact that every State has the right and the responsibility to control its own border. The international community must support every State in successfully carrying out its border control responsibilities.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The international community should — and must — support countries in safeguarding their historical, religious and cultural heritage, as well as their social structure. The international community clearly must not put pressure on any country to get rid of its values or heritage or to change such phenomena. Unfortunately, the global compact on migration suggests that migration would be the best answer to the challenges regarding demography and the labour market. We strongly disagree with that. We believe the contrary — that the international community must respect the sovereign rights of every country to make its own decisions regarding its own economic and social policy, which is supposed to be the most successful for that given country.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We strongly disagree with the basic approach of the global compact on migration, which tries to portray migration as though it provided a definition for the future of our globalized world, making us all countries of origin, transit and destination. Hungary does not want to be any of those three; we believe exactly the contrary, that the international community must respect the sovereignty of each country. The international community must respect the right of States to make the safety and security of its own citizens a priority, and the international community must respect the right of countries to decide whom they will and will not allow to enter their territory. All countries, all nations, have the right to decide with whom they would like to live.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Unfortunately, the United Nations is preparing to commit the same kind of mistake as was committed by the European Union. It is not without good reason that the United States left the negotiation process at the very beginning and that the Hungarian Government has also decided to disassociate itself, because we do not accept the principle of the global compact on migration. We do not accept the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration itself, and we will not take part in the approval mechanism. As we have stated, we absolutely do not consider it to be an obligation. The global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration is a strongly biased, unbalanced and extremely pro-migration document. That is why it is very dangerous and will cause much harm to the world by encouraging further mass and illegal migratory waves.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Despite recent global events that have proved that migration is a dangerous and unfavourable phenomenon that poses serious security challenges to many regions of the world, United Nations officials have tended to speak about migration as a source of prosperity, innovation and global wealth. It is as though migration were the best thing ever that happened to humankind; but that is a false and biased claim. That is why Hungary strongly opposes that position. The United Nations is currently preparing to approve the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. I can tell Member States that that is the worst possible thing that the United Nations could do with regard to responding to the challenge posed by migration.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“They are harmful and must be ended immediately. With respect to international law, international organizations should make it very clear that migration is simply not a fundamental human right. It is not a fundamental human right to pick a country where one would like to live and, in order to get there, violate a series of borders and ignore national and international regulations. That is not a fundamental human right. Unfortunately, like some EU officials, United Nations officials have suggested a false context, as if migration were a fundamental human right. But that is not true; that is not the case.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The truth is that migratory waves can be stopped — we Hungarians have proved it, with the assistance of several Central European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. We are spending more than €1 billion to build a fence on our southern border and have placed police and military officers there. We have proved that, yes, it is possible to stop the migratory waves, and it is possible to protect the borders of the countries I mentioned. Very recently, the Italian Minister of the Interior made an attempt to stop migratory waves on the maritime route. Instead of being praised, he was attacked very severely, as Hungary has been. Based on the experiences of recent years, international efforts should seek to stop the migratory flows and put an end to policies that encourage further migratory waves.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“As Member States might know, the European Union wanted to introduce a system of obligatory quotas to distribute migrants among the EU member States. Hungary is among those countries that rejected that approach and were subsequently blackmailed and punished. The European Union’s approach to tackling migration has turned out to be very unsuccessful and harmful. If we reflect on recent years in Europe, we see that there have been more than 30 major terrorist attacks committed by persons with a migratory background since 2015. More than 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured. That was not a phenomenon that Europe had previously experienced. European institutions in Brussels kept on saying that it was impossible to stop migration, but that is not true.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We Hungarians have first-hand experience with illegal migration — we did not just see it on television or hear it from storytellers. We have first-hand, direct experience. Based on that, I can tell members that it is no wonder that there are big debates going on globally as to how to handle that phenomenon. Unfortunately, I have to tell the Assembly that the European Union (EU) has failed to find an answer to that challenge. The European Union gave a very poor answer: instead of concentrating on how to stop migratory flows, the European Union concentrated on how to encourage and manage the flows. That is basically a policy of invitation and encouragement for further migratory waves to be launched.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Migratory waves are not beneficial for anyone, certainly neither for those who must risk their lives to get to another place in the world nor for those countries that end up having to host a large number of people coming from different cultures. Those huge migratory waves lead only to the creation of parallel societies, with very serious security implications. I come from a Central European country whose territory saw 400,000 illegal migrants march through it in 2015. Those migrants violated our borders. They showed disrespect for our regulations, our culture and our way of life. The migrants attacked the police. They rejected any kind of cooperation with the local authorities. They occupied public areas. And they threatened people and families.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“History usually defines certain periods by the major developments and phenomena that occur during that period. If you pose the question as to which development or which phenomenon history will select to identify the current period that we have been living in, then the answer is pretty obvious. The huge migratory waves that we are experiencing globally are how history will identify our current era. Those huge migratory waves impose a significant security risk almost everywhere in the world. They have destabilized a number of countries over the past years. They have caused serious political debates globally. They bring with them the threat of terror and its consequences, which are more serious than ever — even in those parts of the world that have not experienced that phenomenon before.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We strongly urge the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to begin investigating the new Ukrainian law on education and use all the means at his disposal to address the serious violations of fundamental minority rights brought on by the new Ukrainian law. Hungary will always stand by Hungarian communities, regardless where they live in the world, and we will never let them down. That is our obligation. That is our responsibility, and it comes from our heart, as well.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Article 1 of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education clearly states that, “[t]he term ‘discrimination’ includes any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic condition or birth, has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education”. It is obvious that the new Ukrainian law on education clearly violates those United Nations conventions and international norms. We therefore stress that it would establish a very dangerous precedent if the United Nations were not to act and remained silent in that regard.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)