Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has condemned the UN Migration Pact for attempting to “legalise illegal immigration,” announcing his country will vote ‘no’ on the agreement in Marrakesh in December.
Mr Szijjártó told media on Thursday that “The goal of the UN Global Compact for Migration is to legalise illegal immigration, which is totally unacceptable and violates the sovereignty of member states, including that of Hungary.”
“The UN is making the same mistake as the European Union, which wants to base its own migration policy on mandatory resettlement quotas,” he continued.
“The UN Compact is more dangerous, however, because it is a global initiative, meaning it will have a greater effect than [European] policy, and represents a risk to the whole world.”
Confirming that Hungary will be voting “No” to the Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration in Marrakesh, Morocco, next month, the minister said the government’s main issue with the Compact is “whether or not it is mandatory, and in view of the fact that the document contains the word ‘obligation’ on eighty occasions, the claim that it only includes recommendations is a false one.”
“A legally not binding document would not prescribe the establishment of national action plans, and accordingly it is ‘clearer than day’ that, just like the originally voluntary mandatory quota, the Global Compact for Migration will become a point of reference, mandatory, and the basis for international judicial decisions,” the minister of foreign affairs and trade explained.
Hungary’s statement that the ‘non-binding’ Compact can, in fact, be ‘binding,’ came days after Dutch MEP and Co-President of the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group Marcel de Graaff said that “it is still the legal framework on which the participating countries commit themselves to build new legislation.”
Calling it “a legalisation of mass migration,” the Dutch populist said: “It’s declaring migration a human right.”
Belgian law professor Pierre d’Argent has argued the migration agreement, like other UN compacts, could be used by lawyers in interpreting laws, with German law professor Matthias Herdegen noting the UN compact occupied a “legal grey area” which “gives the impression of [state] liability.”
Mr de Graaff also warned this week that the document could be used as a basis for making criticism of mass migration illegal, saying: “One basic element of this new agreement is the extension of the definition of hate speech… Criticism of migration will become a criminal offence. Media outlets that give room to criticism of migration can be shut down,” he claimed.
‘No Compromises’: Merkel Launches Passionate Defence of UN Migration Pact https://t.co/HcfylEemUM
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 21, 2018
“In fact, it will become impossible to criticise Merkel’s ‘welcome migrants’ politics without being at risk to be jailed for hate speech,” de Graaff added.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the architect of the European migrant crisis, made an impassioned defence of the UN Migration Compact, saying there should be “no compromise” on global mass migration and condemned opposition as “nationalism in its purest form.”
Apart from Hungary, Australia, Israel and several other countries have said that they will not sign the document or have signalled that they will not, following the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump who rejected the compact in December 2017.
World Follows Trump’s Lead: Nations Abandon Legal ‘Framework’ Building UN Migration Pact https://t.co/QivexL6Jsk
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 22, 2018
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