Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács has said pro-migration proposals agreed by the UN and EU show they “are serious about legalising illegal migration, contrary to the will of the people.”
“Now it’s there in black and white: the European Union and the United Nations have thrown their weight behind a global movement that promotes immigration, that sees it as good and a necessary remedy for correcting the EU’s sad demographic course,” Mr Kovács wrote in response to UN members signing the Global Compact for Migration and the European Parliament giving the go-ahead to instituting “humanitarian visas” for migrants last week.
“The UN migration pact is a betrayal of European citizens and fails to represent their interests,” the senior minister said, adding that the document “works from the premise that migration ranks among fundamental human rights.”
Hungary followed U.S. President Donald Trump in rejecting the compact, seen as a first attempt at the “global governance” and institutionalisation of migration, aiming to protect the “human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants.”
Critics have argued that the compact’s “hate speech” provisions will lead to media criticism of immigration being made illegal, and while proponents claim the terms are not legally binding, European lawyers warn the wording exists in a “legal grey area” and could be used to interpret laws in the countries which signed up to the compact.
Following Hungary, fellow Viségrad nations Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland declined to sign the compact, along with Bulgaria, Latvia, Austria, and others.
The U.S. and central and eastern European nations were joined by others including Israel, Australia, and Brazil under its new populist leader Jair Bolsonaro.
This week, Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó also warned that a “sister document,” the UN Global Compact on Refugees, would lead to immigration into Europe “through a back door,” with Hungary and the United States being the only two UN members to vote against the refugee compact on Monday.
Also last week, the European Parliament introduced “humanitarian visas,” which the Brussels bureaucrats said will cut people smuggling and “manage” arrivals of migrants as 90 percent arrive on the continent by illegal means.
The proposals stated that the humanitarian visas would channel migrants through a “legal pathway” to the EU, and give would-be refugees a “right to be heard.”
“You would be given a territorially limited permit to enter a certain EU member-state to ask for asylum. You could do it in a European consulate or embassy, or at an EU delegation abroad.
“This would be a solution for those who currently have no other choice than to expose themselves to illicit trafficking,” the document reads.
Head of the Hungarian prime minister’s office Minister Gergely Gulyás said “the European Parliament decision on the migrant visa defies common sense,” with Dr Kovács adding: “these people are serious about legalising illegal migration, contrary to the will of the people.”
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