Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary is one of the safest places in Europe today, thanks to the Hungarian government’s determined defense against illegal migration, “even if it has to pay a one million euro daily fine to Brussels for it.”
Speaking at a ministerial-level panel discussion at the International Conference on Combatting Antisemitism in Jerusalem, Minister Szijjártó said modern-day anti-Semitism was especially prevalent in Western Europe, mainly due to mass illegal migration. “We in Hungary have a zero-tolerance policy against anti-Semitism. Hungary is one of the safest places in Europe today, in general as well as specifically for Jewish communities,” he said. Hungary also has the largest Jewish community in Central Europe, he added.
“Hungary has no migrants, we don’t allow illegal migrants into the country… No matter the pressure from Brussels, we will keep Hungary one of the safest countries in Europe,” he added.
“Demonstrations glorifying terrorist organisations are unimaginable and prohibited in Hungary. There is no need for armed security guards at Jewish events in Hungary…” Minister Szijjártó said.
Minister Szijjártó said the world was facing “enormous security challenges, one of them being constantly growing terrorism.” It is a duty of the international community to ensure that “horrible things like those that took place in Israel on October 7, 2023, will never happen again.”
He condemned “certain [players] in international politics fundamentally questioning Israel’s right to self-defense, trying to relativise the most horrific terror attack in world history.”
World politics was plagued by an anti-Israel stance, and “unbalanced, biased statements against the Jewish state” were regularly voiced in international organizations, he said.
Minister Szijjártó pointed to the International Criminal Court as an example, which he said had made “a clearly politically motivated decision” when it issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ICC “has become a political organisation and has lost all seriousness,” so Hungary decided to withdraw from it, Minister Szijjártó said.
“We are proud to be a strategic ally and friend of Israel. Israel can always count on Hungary when it comes to combating anti-Semitism, or anti-Israel sentiments in international politics,” Minister Szijjártó said.
